Listen To Your Heart
by bkwrmgrl87
Summary: I have sadly tired of this story. I have put up my summary of what was to be the rest of my story, so read at your own risk. Thank you.
1. Summers End

**The **bolded **dialogue and the whole scene in the flashback was from J.K. Rowling's Order of the Phoenix, chapter 28, Snape's Worst Memory U.S. edition pages 646-648. Chapters One and Two were last updated 26/10, 2009**

Chapter 1: Summer's End August 1976

James Potter quietly sat on his bed, thinking hard. He sighed, his dilemma with Lily on his mind. How could he accomplish such an unattainable goal as to get her to come on a date with him. He'd tried for two whole years to get her to notice _him_rather than his ego the size of Russia as she had so eloquently put it.

He'd put up with the jibs made about his ego if only she would agree to go out with him just once in his life. Yes, he'd been wanting to take her out on a date for two years, but in truth he'd been in love with her for over four. For reasons unknown, the fates decided he would fall in love with the only girl that wouldn't give him the light of day or dark of night.

He exhaled noisily and stretched out on his bed with his head resting on top of his arms, contemplating so hard he didn't take note to the trouble coming in the form of his best friend Sirius Black.

"Hey, Prongs, stop sulking and come play Broom tag with me!" Sirius bellowed as he leaned very close to James's face.

"Ouch, Padfoot… that's my ear you are screaming in!" James spat rolling on his side to get away from Sirius and giving him a very dark look. "A bit of space would be nice, thank you!"

"_Oh__,_ is Prongs in an irritable mood? Do you need you a lie-down?"

"No, I'm in a very good mood!" his words contrary to the annoyance clearly heard in his sharp tone.

"Then it must be that _Jamie_is in _Lily Land_ and doesn't want to be brought back to the real world," Sirius teased.

James, trying to cover-up his embarrassment, said waspishly, "Don't call me Jamie_! _And no _Sirius__,_ I was just… just," James's voice trailing off lamely, his mind suddenly blank.

"Just thinking how nice it would be to snog Evans senseless?" Sirius stated mischievously with a lopsided smirk.

"No… I… I," James muttered as he glanced about the room looking for a distraction to catch Sirius's attention. "Was just thinking how nice it would be if… we… could go outside and play some of that Broom Tag you mentioned!"

Sirius just rolled his eyes and then good-naturedly agreed to go play a rousing game of Broom Tag.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

"So, Padfoot, when are you going back home?" James asked while they were walking back to the Manor after their game.

"Oh well, Prongs, truthfully, I don't think I'm ever going back."

"What? You're running away for good?" asked James shocked though not completely unexpected since James knew his family's tenuous relationship, but to end it so abruptly, it was a lot to take in.

"Well yeah, I've had enough of all their crap they give me."

"I know my parents will love that you're staying here. Have you approached them about it, yet?" James asked, knowing the answer before Sirius replied.

"Nope," Sirius said making a loud popping noise on the P. "Hey Prongs, I'm going to the kitchens to get me a snack. Do you want something?" Sirius headed in the direction of the said room after they had reached the back terrace.

"Umm no. I don't think I will, actually. I need to go in my room and write a letter to er…"

"How about I'll get myself a snack while you go and write a _love_poem to your _oh_ _so _secret crush." Sirius snickered annoyingly.

"I am certainly NOT writing any love poems for your information," James said as they crossed the long hallway in order to get to their selected destinations.

"But it might be about a certain person who could do with a little prodding in the right direction," he said quietly to himself as he continued to his bedroom and shut the door with a quiet click.  


* * *

"Lily, come downstairs, please. I need to take your measurements for your bridesmaid's dress!" Carrie Evans called up to her daughter.

Lily sat on her windowsill looking away to her door and trying her hardest to pretend she couldn't hear her mother's summons.

"Now, Lily, I don't have all day. I still have to sew three other dresses for Petunia's wedding!" Carrie tried to coax Lily downstairs.

"Fine. I'm coming, Mum, just let me finish…" Lily yelled as she tried to stall the moment she had to go down to help with the wedding.

"Now Lily Elisabeth Evans!" Carrie finished as she left the stairway and going to the living room to join her other older daughter Petunia Evans, soon to be Petunia Dursley.

Lily finally complied with her mother's call, tromping loudly down the stairs to the living room also joining the wedding preparations.

"I'm here now… let's just get this over with," Lily replied with a slight edge in her voice.

"What? Aren't you happy that you won't have to deal with me anymore? Oh, of course, you're just upset because _I'm_ the one who's getting the attention and you think it's only you who should get it," Petunia sneered.

"Now Petunia, you be nice to your sister," chastened her mother.

"Don't worry mother she talks to me this way all the time, I'm used to it by now," replied Lily.

Petunia only whipped away from Lily and tried to ignore her completely.

"Dash it all. Will you two at least try to act civil around each other for one moment please? It would help us just a little with the tension that's being brought on by all of the stress of the wedding," their mother said trying to settle the uncomfortable moment brought by her two quarreling daughters.

"Okay, Mum. I'll be compliant for _you_," Lily answered sweetly giving her most innocent look.

"Yeah, that's right, Lily, kiss up to Mum and look all sweet and innocent even though we all know that's not true." Petunia put in.

"Girls, please, I must insist that you stop all this nonsense right now," Carrie said. "I can't take much more and Petunia you'll need to check the guest list to see if it's right."

"Can you take my measurements now, Mum," Lily said looking out the window. "I want to go outside soon. It looks inviting and nobody has a great dislike for me there."

"Oh, Lily, please, you're not disliked. We both love you to pieces even if we show it differently," Mrs. Evans tried to console her daughter.

"Speak for yourself," Petunia murmured under her breath, fortunately for Petunia her mother didn't hear her.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

Lily sighed to herself as she sat on the old Victorian tree swing that hung in the oak tree planted in front of her house.

"What are you doing outside, Lily? Shouldn't you be inside helping?" said a quiet voice behind Lily.

"Dad you scared me half to death! Don't do that!" Lily's heart beat furiously in her chest. "When did you get home?"

"Right now," her father replied sitting next to her on the swing. "I thought I would catch a moment with you, no need to go into the mad house just now. But I dare say, don't let your mother hear me say that."

Lily giggled. Her father started chuckling and they both enjoyed a carefree moment from all the stress endured because of the quick-approaching wedding. Lily and her father chatted together sitting on the old swing like when she was younger until a shrill voice interrupted them.

"Lily, you need to come in and help me with some more projects NOW!" cried Petunia loudly.

"All right keep your hair on I'm coming… I say, can't a girl have any peace in this place?" Lily took her dad's hand and pulled him to his feet then they both walked in the house as Lily prepared for more insults from Petunia.

* * *

_The Plan_

_First thing to do: Capture Lily's heart. But if that gets to be too hard, just accept the fact that she might not feel the way I feel. Try to just be her friend first and see how that works out before expecting more._

_Second: Stop cursing Snape - Lily's really hates that and you can't forget why you're doing all this for. Catch Lily and don't let her go. If I can get her then it'll be a miracle! _

"Prongs? What are you doing up here; you've been gone forever it seems!" Sirius whined as he entered James's bedroom.

"I'm doing nothing that concerns you, that's for sure," James said while trying but failing to hide the list from Sirius.

"Hey, what do you have there Prongs? Oh no… not a letter to Evans? I don't think you've ever had the nerve to even send them to her. Just kept in that "secret" sock drawer of yours."

"No I'm not writing anything like that for your information, and what in the heck are _you_ doing going through my personal things?"

"Just curious and you and I both know you don't care whether I'm in that drawer or not. Well let me see that paper at any rate, it would give me a laugh and you know how much I love to laugh."

"No way, Padfoot, this is personal, besides you couldn't catch me anyway," James grinned.

"Is that a challenge?"

"I guess it is…" with that James ran down the hallway and past several unused guest rooms and raced down the spiral staircase and he threw open the front doors and flew down the path that led to the backyard.

"I'll get it from you Prongs, whatever it is…" the latter yelled to James, as he quickly caught up to his friend.

Not knowing Sirius was close, James slowed down to take a quick breath. Sirius took a running jump and tackled him to the ground near the edge of the wooded area the Potters' owned. Forcibly, he stole the letter from James.

"Hey give that back NOW! That's mine you little…" Sirius ignoring James scanned the parchment before him.

"So there Prongs I caught ya… you. What is this? _Just friends_huh, James? When did you decide to do this? I don't believe I've ever heard you say anything like that. Especially if you're talking about Lily!" Sirius said incredulously.

"What! You don't believe I can do that? Just being friends?" asked James giving Sirius a look of determination. "I can and will do it! Just watch me!"

"Now you've looked at my _personal belongings_ I _demand_ that you give it to me!" James yelled sticking out an impatient hand.

"Are you really going to try and not pick on Snape, either? That's our favourite past time activity!"

"Yes as a matter of fact I am! Now I will have my plan thingy back _now_," James demanded.

"Wow. I never thought that my little Jamie would ever grow up so soon_,_" Sirius drawled out the last word and then wiped away pretend tears and handed James his parchment.

"Oh just shut up if you want a snack from the kitchen."

"Did you say snack? I'll beat you to the kitchen!" Sirius interrupted.

He had stopped pretending to cry and instead ran in the direction of the mansion laughing uncontrollably.

Rolling his eyes, James followed slowly to the kitchen, thinking of his new plan and what reason could possibly answer the question why Sirius could never act like his name.

* * *

"Good night, Mum, Dad, Petunia. I'm going to bed, I'm tired." Lily called to her family. She shut her bedroom door and changed into her nightgown and climbed into her bed.

Looking up through her bedroom window into the clear night sky, Lily started to think about what a boring summer she had, with only the wedding planning to keep her busy.

Lily wanted something else to occupy her vacation time; anything would do, just nothing that had to do with weddings. She wished she could owl some of her own friends to vent all her frustration about only doing the little boring details and having to sit through all the endless discussions of the wedding. She also wished upon wishing that she had a best friend to confide everything to who lived close by. Lily wanted to be anywhere but here, having to deal with her mean sister and the nonstop talk of the upcoming marriage ceremony at the end of August.

The end of August. Now that's the only thing that Lily had been looking forward to all summer. Usually every summer holiday was spent in a new and exciting location where she could learn new and enlightening things, but this year she'd had to stay in her own house and learn the tedious details of putting a wedding together.

But going on the Hogwarts Express via Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was to be the best event since getting home. Then she'd be able to be back with all her friends, schoolwork and heck even annoying persistent Potter would do for a good distraction. Potter, now that's something she hadn't had enough energy to think about in awhile. __

'Why does he have to be so annoying about going out with me,' Lily thought to herself. _'I mean why would he be that desperate? I'm not even half as popular as he is with all his "fan clubs" and other such things…_

_'He'd just dump me once we went out after a week or something awful like that….'_

"Oh snap out of it Lily stop thinking about _HIM__!_ Oh my what has gotten in to me, I can't start getting comfy with Potter. He's insufferable." Lily whispered to herself.

It was well known at Hogwarts that Lily and James didn't get along in the slightest, especially after the incident in their 5th year by the lake. 'Humph that stupid Potter, and to think that Severus did nothing to deserve all that humiliation and embarrassment.' Lily thought back to the end of last year after she had taken her O.W.L.s.

~**Flashback**~

_Lily and her best friends, Tory, Kathleen and Nicole, were sitting and chatting about anything and nothing with each other after taking their Defense Against the Dark Arts exam on the lake edge with their feet dipped in the refreshingly cool water. It was relaxing to get a break from the stress of exams, but the quiet was broken when they heard yelling from behind them in the distance._

"What was that?" Tory asked looking around to the source of the noise.

_Across the lawn people were circled round a group of boys and a guy with jet-black hair who stood out among the crowd that was getting progressively bigger by the second._

'I'd know that head of hair anywhere,' Lily thought, disgusted with the person she knew to be a bully, and seeing with grim satisfaction that she was right about being a bully. Right in front of the girls' eyes they saw the boys picking on Severus Snape a fellow 5th year in Slytherin, with James and Sirius looking very smug, and James's wand pointed at Severus.

_'Oh I'm so sick of Potter and his stupid stunts he tries to pull and attacking Severus for no reason at all. Is he going to get the idea that no one should act like that?' she growled soundlessly and then indicated to her friends that they should see what was happening and then she and her friends pushed their way up to the front of the group that was gathering around Snape, James and his friends. _

_Lily noticed that Remus wasn't participating, but neither was he trying to help the Slytherin. Pettigrew wasn't standing up like Black and Potter were, but he was laughing along with Black as they continued to humiliate Snape, and by the looks of it, Snape had been hit with the Impediment jinx._

_As Lily marched closer to the boys, she heard Potter tell Snape to clean his mouth and then she heard him cast the cleaning charm at Snape, making him choke on the foaming bubbles flooding out of his mouth. _

_Lily saw red, nothing could stand in her way from helping the poor boy that was helpless to defend himself, she was so upset that she couldn't stay silent anymore because of the harassment being given. The words flowed out of her mouth like water from a fount. _

**_"_****_Leave him ALONE_****_!" _**_she thundered. _

_Both Potter and Black twisted around to see her in a towering rage and she was annoyed to see that Potter had raised his hand up, running it through his hair to make it look messier than ever before. _

_Potter tried to talk with her, but she wasn't to be deterred from what she had come to do, and that was to help Severus. She again demanded Potter to release Severus but Potter only asked her on a date for what seemed like the hundred thousandth time._

_As she told him she would rather date the Giant Squid she noticed Snape had retrieved his wand. Before he could do anything Black alerted Potter and as he turned around his cheek was hit by a spell from Severus. Lily did not hear what it was that had been cast._

_Quicker than she could blink Severus was upside-down, hanging by his ankle. The surrounding spectators were cheering and the repulsive bullies were roaring with laughter.  
__  
Lily was irritated with herself as an involuntary smile tried to slide up on her face. To keep from smiling she shouted again to let Severus be. Potter finally listened to her, but it wasn't as smoothly as she had imagined for Potter jerked his wand and Snape tumbled down in a messy heap._

_Snape righted himself and half raised his wand. Black quickly cast a full-body bind on him and his limbs snapped together causing him to fall flat on his face._

_Yet again she yelled for them to leave him alone, and though Potter argued with her he finally let him go and said, **"**_**_There you go you're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus_****_—"_**

_But before he could finish, he was interrupted by Snape._

**_"_****_I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her_****_!"_**

_She was shocked, hadn't she just tried to defend him? Hadn't she just spent the last twenty minutes fighting with Potter to let him free? Was it all for nothing_

_Potter then tried to get Snape to apologize to her, but she'd had enough. If Snape didn't feel grateful then that was his prerogative, but Potter was another matter completely. Didn't he understand the arrogance that radiated from him a mile away? Didn't he understand that bullying the innocent was just as bad?_

_After telling him exactly what she thought of him and pointed out the things that frustrated her the most she then twisted around and hurried off back to the castle with her friends in toe. _

_'Stupid Potter! He just doesn't get it does he! Well I'll just ignore him from now on....'**  
**  
She heard him yell her name but Lily took no notice of him and waited for her friends to catch up with her as she neared the castle. She thought back to the promise she needed to keep if she wanted her sanity to stay in check. But that would be easy; and that was to keep ignoring him, and not just as he screamed for her to go back to where she had just left._  
_  
~_**End Flashback**

Slowly, Lily fell into a fitful sleep thinking of all the other times Potter left her tossing and turning. She kept wondering whether he'd ever change into a gentleman while pledging in order to keep herself together she would avoid him like the plague. How hard could that be? Little did she know, it wouldn't be as easy as she thought.

* * *

I don't know what's happening to right now but It's really ticking me off! It keeps changing the paragraph spaces so that there is TOO much space in-between! Done venting. Here's my REAL Authors Note:

Thank you for taking the time to read this! I have to thank my Beta Blue Leah, who has helped me tremendly! She never gets sick of me emailing over and over and over and over and over and OVER agian with reguards to my stories! Please review so I know you like what we've put together for your enjoyment. Thanks. Please Vote! I will be shutting the voting in a few weeks!

~bkwrmgrl87


	2. Back to School Shopping

Chapter 2 Back to School Shopping August 1976

"Lily, come downstairs. There's an owl at the window for you and of what I can see it looks like it's a Hogwarts letter," Matthew Evans called up to his daughter from the kitchen.

Lily lay in her bed thinking of what she should do with her day when Mr. Evans called up to her. After hearing her father's call, she immediately jumped out of bed and ran down in record time to the window, took the letter from the owl, and it flew back out into the dazzling sunlight.

"Yes, finally! I thought the letter would never come!" she exclaimed as she examining the content of the letter.

"Nothing out of the ordinary then Lily?" asked Carrie, reading the paper and drinking her morning coffee.

"Nope, just the normal book list really," Lily replied folding up her letter and sticking it back in the envelope. "So, Dad, can we all go to Diagon Alley today or tomorrow maybe?"

"I think I'll be able to Saturday, especially if tell the office that if they don't let me go, my daughter could turn them into a teacup," Matthew chuckled lightly.

"Oh, Dad, you know I can't do magic out of school, besides if I could I wouldn't since it's not a very sensible thing to do…" Lily trailed off due to the expression of amusement that plainly showed on her parents' faces. "What? It's not _that_ funny!" she exclaimed, setting her parents off and then they all laughed together until her father stood up to take his breakfast things to the sink.

"Well ladies I have to go to the office now. Carrie, I might be staying a little later than usual." Mr. Evans told his wife and the only daughter left at home. "All right, dear," replied Carrie as he leaned down and kissed her goodbye.

"G'bye dad, see you later then." Lily gave her father a hug. He then left with another swift good-bye and was gone.

"So, Mum, could I tell Nicole to meet me at Diagon Alley and maybe spend some time here, too? It'd be really fun to spend time with her before school starts up again.""Yes I think that would be okay with me if her parents are okay with that and it will be fun to have some of your friends around here this summer," Mrs. Evans answered.

"Okay thanks, Mum; I'm glad you approve of it." Lily gave her mother a hug and ran upstairs.

Lily ran to her desk and pulled out quill, ink, and parchment. Just about to write to Nicole, she remembered she didn't have an owl of her own and there wasn't the school or one of her other friends to borrow from.

"Oh man, now I'm depressed. Come on, Nicole, read my mind and think to invite me to meet up in Diagon Alley!" Lily said. She knew she was just being unreasonable, Nicole wasn't able to read minds and was probably too busy on a holiday trip to owl Lily anyway.

_'Well I guess I'll just go downstairs and finish my summer school work, since that's the only thing that I can do,'_ Lily thought as she walked back downstairs to join her mother in the drawing room, trying to think of more exciting things to do.

* * *

"Prongs wake up! James Potter, wake up!" Sirius yelled trying to awaken his friend. "Okay, if you want to play it the hard way, you'll have to suffer the consequences," Sirius said with a mischievous smile.

"Oh hello, Lily, what are you doing here wearing _that__?_"

"What!" James yelled as he shot up in bed. "Where is she, Padfoot? I don't see… Hey, that wasn't funny, Sirius! STOP laughing at me!" James yelled at Sirius, but that only made him laugh harder.

"Oh Man… that was funny! I _so _got you there, Prongs. You should have seen--your face! Oh I haven't--done anything like that in--a long time!" Sirius panted as he attempting to regain his breath.

"Will you shut up any?" James roared.

"What are you yelling at Sirius for, James? I guess I know you're awake at any rate." spoke James's mother, Helen Potter. "I brought up your Hogwarts letter, dear. Both of yours actually, so here you are. And you, Sirius."

James took his letter and opened it.

"I think after I talk with your father we'll be able to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, actually." she finished.

James finished his letter and shoved it haphazardly in his nightstand.

"Brill! Sirius and I need to go and buy some more dung bombs from Gambol and Japes. I also wanted to go in Quality Quidditch Supplies and check if they have anything worth buying," James said with a wistful expression.

"Yeah, Prongs, I've got a feeling that we'll need to stock up on prank supplies. I think we're getting low," Sirius added.

"Now boys, don't you go getting in so much trouble this year at Hogwarts. Do you hear me, James? " Helen gave her son a threatening glare.

"Yes, Mum, we'll keep our noses clean, we _really_ will," James spoke in a placating voice. "How are you and Dad doing this morning by the by?"

"Just the same aches of old age and more wrinkles then I can count," she said.

"For shame Helen, don't talk like that. You don't look a day older than 35!" Sirius bowed elaborately and kissed Helen on the hand.

"Oh, Sirius, stop that, you know I'm far from 30." Helen blushed deeply.

"Mum, don't worry about age at all, your very faithful son is here to take care of you." James kissed her on the cheek.

"Why is everyone gathered in hereof all places?" said a voice from the doorway.

Sirius had at this last comment started to laugh at James all over again, having been reminded of his successfully played prank.

"I hope you slept soundly last night, dad!" James tried to drown out Sirius's laughter.

"Very well, thank you, James." William Potter replied looking at Sirius with a raised eyebrow.

"You already know why Sirius is laughing. It's because he has some heavy mental issues to work out," James laughed.

"Ha ha," Sirius muttered sarcastically. "Now that's not a very nice thing to say to me, Prongs!" "Well I've got breakfast ready if…" Helen had started to say, but before she could finish Sirius was out of the door and could be heard thumping his way down the stairs.

"Well I guess Sirius is hungry." William chuckled.

"Sirius, you really do have some issues to work on," James said shaking his head and followed his parents out of the room to go to the kitchen to enjoy their meal together.

* * *

Lily was sitting in the living room reading a book and drinking her tea when she heard a tap on her window. She opened the window to let in a beautifully colored hazel and gray owl.

"Hey there, do you have a letter for me?" Lily asked whilst taking off the letter. She proceeded to break the seal and open up the letter. The owl left through the open window. Lily recognized the even handwriting with a smile.

_Dear Lily, _

_Hey how have you been doing? I'm really really sorry for not writing you sooner, it's been really busy because my older brother Brian is moving out of the house to a flat in the heart of London. _

_Are you holding up OK? Has Potter written you yet? Just kidding. I wish we could have gone to Diagon Alley together but my family and I went when we were in London to help Brian. This owl is Brian's by the by that's why you probably didn't recognize it. _

_Well I hope you haven't been too bored by yourself. I bet it is a lot better now that Petunia's off and married. I can't wait to see you on the train! We can talk more about our summers there. I don't have very much else to say except – Goodbye! _

_Love,_

_ Nicole_

After looking at the letter again Lily gave a great sigh.

"So her family must have gone to Diagon Alley today since she got her letter this morning," Lily thought. "Wow she must have sent the owl on a very fast errand if it arrived on the same day!" Lily exclaimed.

"I at least know she didn't forget about me… Lily, you're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow with your parents. Right Lily, that's the way to think, you are NOT a pessimist, far from it!" she said to herself out loud.

"Well I'm pleased that you're not a pessimist, because I like my daughter to look at things with a hopeful outlook." Unbeknownst to Lily, her father had heard the last little bit of her thoughts.

"Hey Dad.I'm glad your home. So is it official? It'd be wonderful to get into Diagon Alley tomorrow.

"Yes the office can spare me. We'll be able to have a whole free day to spend together as a family. I better finish up the paperwork I've brought home or they might change their minds about letting me go!" With that Matthew left Lily in the living room pondering what the next day would bring.

* * *

"James, what did you and Sirius do today?" William asked during dinner.

"Well, we just played some Quidditch and did some stuff in my room. Nothing out of the ordinary, really." James replied.

"Yep, Jamie here, ("Don't call me Jamie!") wasn't in much of a playful mood. He was in Lily Land too often." Sirius scooted further away from James to avoid a punch aimed at him.

"Hey, will you stop with the Evans thing already. It's getting really old!" James said as he moved closer to Sirius and happily punched his friend in retaliation of his daft comments.

"Ouch, Prongs, don't hit so hard! Fine, I'll take it back, though we both know you _were_ in Lily Land!" Sirius said trying to be sincere but he didn't quite pull it off the way he wanted.

"Just be very quiet if you like the way you look at the moment," James snarled. "You might not like the adjustments I'll make to your pretty face."

"James, dear, calm down. We all know you have a certain thing for this Lily Evans," Helen said. "Hmm I would like to see her, actually." she added as an afterthought.

"Well in all honesty, Mum, I don't think THAT will happen any time soon..." James said going a little pink.

"Oh look, Helen. You've made your son blush." said William with a knowing smile.

"Yeah well… So what time are we leaving for Diagon Alley tomorrow?" James changed the topic.

"I don't care when ever your mother decides," William said.

"When do you want to go then?"

"Well, I guess we'd better go about 9 o'clock if we can manage," she answered.

"So early? It's summer hols!" Sirius grumbled into his dessert. _He_obviously didn't like the prospect of an early morning.

James snorted. It was more like he wanted to hear his own voice. Sirius sleep in? It would be a welcome change if that were true. But he didn't voice his thoughts. Instead he said, "I'll be glad to get out of the house for a while."

After dinner Sirius and James went up to their respective bedrooms. Sirius said good night to all of the Potter's thinking of all the fun that he'll have tomorrow going shopping in Diagon Alley. He was also looking forward to going back to his true home, Hogwarts.

James's thoughts; however, were only of a girl that had been haunting his dreams for years, never coming close to achieving his deepest desire. Would he ever get a chance to get five minutes of good conversation with his dream girl? Only time would tell.

* * *

"Come on, Mum and Dad, hurry. I want to get in there before the day is over," Lily grumbled to her parents. It was already 8:45am and she had wanted to get to Diagon Alley by 8:30 to beat the rush that was going to happen now that all the Hogwarts letters were delivered.

"We're coming, honey, but you must give us a minute. We're not used to this place and your father's driving didn't do me any favours," Carrie said leaving the back of The Leaky Cauldron looking dizzy in the empty courtyard.

"Okay. Sorry for being rude, Mum."

"It's quite all right. You did say you wanted to be here by 8:30 and we haven't even managed that," Carrie replied.

"Well, Lily, would you please do the honors?" Matthew said to Lily motioning to the bare brick wall.

"Oh right--sorry."

She then pulled out her wand and tapped the wall in the correct order. The archway appeared.

Matthew and Carrie both were in awe of what they saw, for they had only been there once before. Lily went with them in her first year and then with Nicole Martin and her family every year after that first one.

"Wow. I've forgotten what it was like since the last time we came here," replied Matthew.

"Yes, it's quite amazing," remarked Carrie.

Lily both watched them in amusement. It was fun to see them with that childlike wonder gleaming in their eyes. After a pause Lily lead the way down the street and questioned her parents.

"Where should we go first? We'll have to go exchange our British pounds first at Gringotts bank. Then wherever after that," Lily said.

"I don't mind where, Lily, you just lead the way." Matthew encouraged.

"Okay to Grin--oh no--of all the people. Hurry, Mum, Dad. Here into Eeylops." Lily pulled her parents into the shop.

"Why are we in here, Lily?" Matthew questioned, looking around the shop.

"Oh, because a stupid, mean, bully of a boy, Potter is walking this way with his friend, Sirius Black, and his parents by the looks of them," Lily replied looking out the window to see Sirius, James, and his parents walking down the street.

_'That MUST be his mum and dad. Wow! He looks so similar to his mum with his strong jaw and dimpled cheeks. But look at him and his dad, the same smile and the way they stride upright and confident. He's even grown a lot over the summer, he looks quite goodlo… no stop thinking that way!_' Lily reprimanding her own thoughts.

"You mean that boy is James Potter? The one you're always talking about?" Carrie asked interrupting Lily's thoughts.

"Yes that Potter, who can't resist showing off," Lily said giving James a glare.

"Well, I for one would like to say hello to him actually," Matthew said.

"WHAT!" Lily yelled scaring some of the owls near her lookout.

"Yes, I quite agree with your father. It would be nice to see if James is as you say," Carrie said looking pleased.

"NO!" Lily answered.

"Please, miss, you're scaring the owls. Would you please leave if you're going to continue shouting?" asked the manager of Eeylops.

"Okay, we can say a quick hello. But that's all," Lily said grudgingly and looked out the window with her fingers crossed hoping that Sirius and the Potter's would be gone by now. To her dismay they seemed to be debating something just a few yards away from the door.

"Okay Lily just stay calm and breathe…"

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

Lily led her parents to where Sirius and the Potters' were standing. As they got closer, Lily could clearly make out what the heated discussion was between the irritatingly immature boys that appear to have come to ruin her day.

"Again, I say let's go in the Quidditch shop first!" James said standing outside of Eeylops Owl Emporium.

"No way, Prongs, I want to go to the joke shop first!" Sirius said stubbornly.

"No! We'll go la… Hello, Lily, good morning!" James said with an overly bright smile. It made Lily's stomach turn."Hello, James, Sirius," Lily mumbled quietly, looking anywhere but at the people she had just addressed.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, nice to properly meet you," James said with a true smile. James waited for an introduction, but when Lily glared balefully he ignored it and stepped closer to Lily's parents."Mr. and Mrs. Evans, these are my parents, William and Helen Potter, and I'm James."

"And I'm Sirius Black, Sir." Sirius smiled. "It's nice to meet you all. Please call me Matthew and this is my wife, Carrie."

"Where in this crazy world did James become so polite and proper. And Sirius, too?" Lily questioned out loud.

"Lily," Carrie said with a piercing stare. "James is being very friendly and polite while you're not even trying to do so!"

"It's okay, Mrs. Evans, she's just used to me being loud and obnoxious and she's just being the very observant Lily that I'm used to."

"Yup. James certainly can be very loud and Lily's usually thinking of how to best…" but Sirius was promptly interupted by Lily. She hadn't meant to but alas she did.

"Yes. Well, it was nice seeing you again, James and Sirius. Mr. and Mrs. Potter, it's a pleasure meeting you for the first time. We've really got to go pick-up my stuff for Hogwarts. I'll see you guys later on the Hogwarts Express," Lily said in a single breath. The faster she could get away the better.

"Lily! You interrupted Sirius. Where are your manners?" Carrie asked her daughter.

"Oh -- Sorry Sirius. I didn't know you were talking. Please by all means continue," Lily said politely.

"No, that's okay. I've actually got to go in the joke shop. I'll see you on the train!" winking to Lily, Sirius said a quick good-bye and swiftly walked away.

"Well it really was a pleasure to get to meet the parents of the ever so charming Lily Evans. Good bye all," James said whilst shaking Matthew and Carrie's hands and then shoved his hands in his pockets afterward, waiting to leave with his parents.

Lily blushed when he told her that she was charming. Why, oh why did she have to be red-haired? Now he would get the wrong impression, mistaking guilt with mortification. "Yes, good-bye, James, Mist... uh… Matthew and Carrie, it was nice meeting you," Lily said relieved as she nodded respectively and then proceeded to lead her parents to the bank to exchange their money.

* * *

"Lily was very anxious to get away from us. I thought you said she was--not so restive all the time?" Helen asked her son.

"Huh? What? Oh yeah, I'm not sure why she was so agitated," James said distractedly being pulled away from his own thoughts of Lily.

"What did you guys think of her, anyway?"

"I'm not sure. She really didn't say that much," said William. "You might've caught her off guard with your manners in front of her. Didn't Sirius say that you haven't been very nice to Severus Snape at school?"

"Well, yeah, that's true. That could be a possibility."

"I now know why you have a certain soft spot for the girl. She's very pretty with her dark auburn hair and bright green eyes," Helen said with satisfaction seeing the color rise on James cheeks.

"Yes well, we better find Sirius and get to shopping if we want to finish by noon." James walked in the direction of the joke shop."Okay, son, don't worry we'll be done in no time at all," William said with a smile as he watched his son's reaction to the mere mention of Lily Evans.

* * *

"Well, that James was sure polite, Lily, nothing like what you've always described to us," Carrie said looking slightly hurt at the thought.

"I don't know what that little show was about, but he's never that polite at school I CAN promise you that," Lily replied bitterly. "I liked him enough because of his manners and his upbeat personality," Matthew said.

"He _was_ very polite and I can't figure out the motive for that either," Lily commented.

"Maybe you judge too quickly, Lily, maybe he has no other motives besides being friendly," Carrie said.

"Well that's a thought," Lily said sarcastically.

_'Why was he so nice? It just doesn't fit! Did he actually give up on me? I definitely want him to give up on me, Or do I? Now I'm really REALLY confused!' _Lily pondered seriously. Why did that boy always have to make her head dizzy with confusion? Couldn't she just have a life separate from him, was that too much to ask for? Obviously it was.

* * *

Another thank you to my wonderful Beta - Blue Leah, who helped make this a readable chapter (hopefully!) and we both are making progress going and editing my chapters over and over again. I hope you like what we've done.

~bkwrmgrl87


	3. Off to Another Year, Another Chance

Listen to your heart  
when he's calling for you  
Listen to your heart  
there's nothing else you can do  
I don't know where you're going  
and I don't know why  
but _listen to your heart  
**before you tell him goodbye**_

By DHT

Chapter 3 Off to Another Year, Another Chance September 1, 1976

It was 10:50a.m. when James and Sirius were inside the Hogwarts Express Station 9¾. Waiting frantically for their two other friends Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Well actually Sirius was waiting frantically for their friends, while James' eyes had wondered off and settled on a girl with Auburn hair talking with three other girls. James could tell whom they were from where he stood. Tory Renakovich, Kathleen Stewart and Nicole Martin, Lily's closest friends of what James knew.

"Hey Remus! Peter! Get over here now!" Sirius yelled, which consequently got the attention of not just the people of who were called, but also James (getting out of _Evans Mode_, as Sirius dubbed it.) and everyone else in a 20-foot radius. "Hello James, hey Sirius. How was the summer for you guys?" Remus asked walking over to the two other boys with Peter trailing behind. "Not too bad Moony, not too bad." Sirius replied. "Hey you guys shouldn't we get on the train?" Peter interjected. "YES. That's a very good point Peter!" James said moving toward the train and taking his eyes off Lily.

"Well how was your summer Wormtail?" James asked. They now had settled down in a compartment to themselves. "Nothing big happened, it was quite boring with nobody to do anything with." Peter frowned slightly. "That's not very fun Wormtail. My summer wasn't too exciting either to tell you the truth." Remus said sympathetically.

"Hey cheer up you guys! No wonder you had a boring summer. It's all about attitude!" Sirius said loudly. "Prongs and I had a very fun summer, Prongs was constantly in _Lily Land_ ("WAS NOT!"), while I was constantly eating food and thinking of games to play!" Sirius proclaimed to the cabin. "I was not in Lily Land, Padfoot!" James called to Sirius. "Oh yes you were Prongs, I know we played Quidditch and all but you still were spacing it most of the time!" Sirius said with a smile.

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"  
"NOT!"

"TOO!"

"NOT!"

"TOO!"

"Will you both just SHUT UP!" Remus said finally losing his patients. "Hey there Moony, no need to get your knickers in a twist. By the way Moony, don't you need to be in a Prefects meeting?" Sirius finished with a goofy grin.

"Wha…OH MY HOLY BROWN COW! You're right! I've got to..." Remus not finishing his sentence dashed out the door. "Did you guys actually plan for him to be late?" Peter asked looking suspiciously between James and Sirius. "Why would you think a thing like that Wormtail?" James asked with a sly grin. "Well for one thing…." Peter trailed off not knowing the answer to the question. "Oh I don't know if it was intentional but it sure was funny to see Moony run like that!" Sirius said with a roaring laugh. "Yeah that was a good one Padfoot!" James said also laughing. Since Peter had nothing better to do he joined in too, till everyone was laughing uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" Remus asked coming back in the compartment a while later and sitting down. "You!" Sirius choked out. "What? Why are you laughing at me?" Remus asked looking about confused. "Because of you bolting out the door earlier!" James said holding his sides but he HAD settled down some. "So what? I was late thanks to you guys." Remus retorted. "Us? What did we do?" Sirius said faking an offended look. "Oh just stop with your stupid games." Remus sighed resting his head against the wall. "Oh is Moony in a bad mood!" Sirius teased. "No I just have a psycho person as a friend." Remus said under his breath.

"Hey Moony I forgot to get mad at you earlier," Sirius said calmly. "What in the world did I do?" Remus asked raising his head and giving Sirius an incredulous look. "You got to Prongs here." Sirius said shaking his head and giving James a pat on the back.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, James said…."

"What for heavens name are you talking about Padfoot!"

"James said, (Sirius gulped loudly) he's…he's not going to pick on Snivellus as as…MUCH!" Sirius flinched dramatically.

"WHAT?" Peter and Remus chimed together snapping their heads and gave James a look of shock.

-&-&--&-

"Hey Lils over here! We're all over here!" Tory shouted over to Lily. Tory Renakovich had medium brown hair to her shoulder and sparkling silver blue eyes. She was the very outgoing, boy crazy one, sort of flirtatious, but always by your side.

Lily had spotted the others and then went to join them. "Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great summers?" Lily inquired. "Yes Lily, but we need to get to the train it's about to leave." Kathleen said.

Kathleen Stewart had shiny black hair and violet gray eyes; she was the shy, quite one of the group. She can be very strong willed and an independent person at times. "Yes we had better hurry up if we want to go to Hogwarts." Nicole said seriously.

Nicole Martin had dirty blond hair and light honey brown eyes. She was the wise one and the best to go for advice. She always tried to see the good in everyone even if it didn't make much sense to the others around her.

The girls had settled into an empty compartment and started talking of the summer vacation. "Oh Lily, what did you do this summer? Did the wedding go okay for you?" Kathleen asked with her head tilted to one side. "Yeah Lils, tell us about your summer!" Tory asked loudly. "Okay well getting ready for the wedding was a boring affair! Uh! I didn't have fun I'll tell you that much! But after the wedding it was ok…." Lily drifted off thinking of the _other_ incident at Diagon Alley. "Lily did you get a letter from _someone _we all know?" Nicole asked slyly. "Well actually no I didn't (Lily went a bit pink, Only a bit!)…But we did accidentally bump into each other at Diagon Alley…" Lily trailed off lamely. "WHAT! And you never mention it to us before?" Tory asked surprised.

"Well…I guess."

"Spill it Lily." Nicole implored.

"Okay my parents and I…" Lily then proceeded to tell of the 'incident'.

"Really? He didn't act pompous?" Kathleen asked. "See Lily, what have I always told you about James!" Nicole said to Lily. "Well…I don't know. I don't think he can change that fast. But he did act…some what better, probably because of his parents or something." Lily shrugged.

Kathleen then put in. "Lily you need to give James a chance. He's not that bad, he's just trying to make you like him. You need to get to know him better before you totally dislike him to no end."

"What? You guys, I can't do that he's just too…well you know!" Lily finished lamely and shook her head.

'_But Lily you are getting used to the idea of getting to know him since Diagon Alley. **Am NOT!** You can't lie to yourself, I say you do and you DO!' _Lily debated herself.

"Actually girls I think Potter has given up on me finally!" Lily said. "Why do you think that?" Nicole asked. "Well because at Diagon Alley he didn't try and make any moves on me, come to think of it." Lily said. "Well I still think he might actually be trying to show that different side we've been talking about." Nicole said with a knowing smile.

'Well I sure hope Potter doesn't change from what he was like at Diagon Alley. Because then I might change my mind…' Lily thought.

"Well then I said…" Tory was telling the others who were listening about a boy she had dated and then dumped before the end of last year. Lily just nodded to Tory every so often and giving a convincing smile. While really wondering about the next school year and what would be in store for her there.

"You know who I have my eye on this year?" Tory said looking starry eyed while changing into her school robes. "No who?" Kathleen asked curiously also getting changed. "Sirius BLACK!" Tory screeched. "What! You…You…. Are you sure?" Lily said looking baffled (Lily and Nicole had already changed clothes). "What? Why couldn't I?" Tory asked surprised. "Because..Because…" Lily said, then giving up because of the shocked look on Tory's face. "Yeah well I guess you could go for it, if that's what you want." Lily said smiling slightly. "Oh yes I do! He's ssoo very Cute and so very crazy! Not to mention available!" Tory yelled loudly. Lily, Nicole and Kathleen just shook their heads knowing that Sirius wasn't going to last very long. He'll be history in maybe about a couple of weeks at the most…well maybe.

"Girl's I can see the castle," Kathleen told the others looking out the window. "We're getting close now." "I'm glad to be back at Hogwarts finally." Lily said quietly. "Yes it will be good to go to classes and see our fellow classmates." Nicole said looking pointedly at Lily. But Lily wasn't paying attention she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts of Hogwarts and _some _fellow Gryffinors.

-&-&--&-

"WHAT!" Peter and Remus gapped at James.

"No you guys, I've changed battle tactics," James said seriously. "I've decided that I just want to be a really good friend before (He sighed deeply) I want anything else." James finished looking down at his feet, avoided making eye contact. "WOW Prongs! I don't think I've ever heard you speak that mature before!" Remus said in disbelief. "Yeah Prongs, watch yourself you might be made a…. PRFECT!" Sirius said with a disgusted look on his face. "Hey watch it!" Remus said pointing to his Prefects badge and giving Sirius a well-deserved punch.

"Hey you can't punch me and get away with it Moony!" Sirius yelled at Remus and started chasing him around the compartment (which is not a good idea because of the lack of space) and landed on top of Peter. "OUCH! Get off you guys! You're squishing me!" Peter said muffled, he had his face pressed against the window. "Oh sorry Wormtail! It wasn't intentional, just so you know!" Sirius said laughing hard. "Ow Padfoot, that one hurt." Remus said nursing his foot that had been stamped on by Sirius. "Oh you'll live Moony, don't be such a wimp about it!" Sirius teased. "What? I am certainly not being a wimp at all. You nearly broke my foot!" Remus added with a glare.

"What made you want to just be friends anyway James?" Remus inquired later. "It started earlier this summer I guess, you know how I was wanting to get to know Lily a little bit better. I'm serious (not a pun) this time guys, Lily going to be mine this year…My family, Sirius and I then saw Lily in Diagon Alley. I think that's when the plan was actually formed in my mind completely." James said matter of factly. "What do you mean you saw Lily?" Remus asked confused. "Well it was when…" James also told the story and was interrupted many times by Sirius and his version of the shopping trip.

"We're getting close to Hogwarts, I can see it from here," Peter said looking out the window. "Don't you think we should change?" Peter asked the others nervously. "Yeah, we should. We'll be there in a couple of minutes." commented Remus looking out the window also.

"We're going to be in our sixth year once we step off the train you guys." James said smiling. "Yep wait till we see our best bud _Snivellus!_" Sirius smiled wickedly. "We need to think of a good prank first! Right?" Peter spoke uncertainly to the others. "Well sure, why not? I always love a good pranking." Sirius said rubbing his hands together. "What are you planning Padfoot?" James asked with a look of curiosity. "Well Prongs, I would love to do in my dear _sweeeeeet_ Cousins! Remember?" Sirius said with a wide smile and with his eyebrows raised. "Oh yes, that would a most splendid plan Padfoot." James said with a smirk too. "What do you guys have planned?" Remus was looking uncertainly about this _brilliant _plan of theirs. "Oh you'll see after the Feast!" Sirius said looking in James direction. "Oh yeah, this will be a good one Padfoot!" James chimed in. Remus just shook his head and changed quickly into his Hogwarts robes.

-&-&--&-

The Marauders were sitting in the Great Hall at the Gryffindor table about 10ft. away from Lily and her friends, eating after waiting for all the sorting and Dumbledore's speech to be done. "Wow I don't think I could have taken much more waiting!" Sirius said finally getting to eat every food that was nearest him. "Yeah, all we need now is our long awaited prank to make today perfect." James said with a coy smile and sneaking a glance in Lily's direction. "So are you going to tell me and Peter your plan or do we have to guess?" Remus said exasperated. "Just wait in about 3…2…1…" Sirius counting down, then there were loud yells from across the room. Narcissa and Bellatrix Black (Sirius's cousins of course!) had both began dancing wildly about the room and tugging at their hats trying to pull them off. Students around the room were pointing and laughing at the sight of the two.

"What did you guys do?" Peter asked a little unsure. "Well we…ha ha…we jinxed their hats to…ha ha…to shock them slightly if they ever got too sweaty!" Sirius said with a loud laugh. "Really!" Remus said slightly amused. "Yeah it was Padfoot's idea here, but I'm the one that found the right jinx!" James said with a hearty laugh as well. "How long will the jinx last Prongs?" Remus asked. "Well it depends, if they ever get their hats off," James snickered. "They can just wash the hats and then the jinx will wear off after that!" Sirius finished with more laughter. "I hope they'll be okay." Peter said looking worried. "Who cares!" Sirius and James said in unison with roaring laughs

-&-&--&-

"Who's yelling?" Lily asked worriedly looking about the Great Hall for the cause of all the noise. "Oh don't worry Lily, they'll be okay. It's only Sirius's foul cousins from Slytherin. Narcissa and Bellatrix Black." Tory smiled and looking in the direction of the other side of the room.

"Girls come with me I'll take you to the Hospital Wing, right now! We'll find out what's has happened to you!" Professor Slughorn the Head of Slytherin House called to Narcissa and Bellatrix, so the three of them left in a hurry out of the Great Hall to the Hospital Wing. "Well at least now we'll know they'll be okay now. But who would want to harm them for no good reason that we can see?" Lily asked looking around the Hall for the possible culprits.

Lily's eyes then settled on four boys down away from where she was sitting. There was James with very unkempt jet-black hair, intense hazel eyes that were framed by round glasses that at the moment were about to fall off because he was laughing heartily. Sirius with coal gray eyes and straight black hair that went to his shoulder and howling with laughter too. Then there was Peter with his small watery eyes and his short blond hair cut above his ears, biting his nails nervously and looking worried. Also Remus and his calm and mature demeanor, looking around with his warm brown eyes and his sandy brown hair that he casually swept out of his eyes snickering slightly.

"Who do you think pulled the prank Lily?" Kathleen asked Lily. "Well I thought it probably was those good for nothing _Marauders_! Didn't Tory just say that those girls were Sirius Cousins!" Lily said then flinched because she had just thought of the earlier conversation with her friends about the Marauders and harsh judgements. Nicole had been thinking along the same lines and said. "Lily watch what you say, because we really do want you to give James a benefit of the doubt. Who knows it might have been someone else!"

"Well I just can't go over there and say 'Hi Potter I think we should be friends, I don't care about our past fighting relationship!' No way! That's just too dumb!" Lily said uncomfortably. "I think it's a good idea Lily, you just need to see James in a good light. If you can befriend him he might show you a better side!" Nicole advised. "No don't be so weird as that! I can't possibly!" Lily said determinedly. The girls had let the matter drop (For now), because Dumbledore had just risen in his seat. He finished his speech and told them to go get to bed.

The girls stood up and walked out of the Great Hall and up to the Gryffindor Tower. Tory was talking about how Sirius had grown a lot over the summer vacation and how much more attractive he had gotten, while the others just quietly nodded and agreed, silently thinking of other things. Lily was wondering more of if her friends were right about all they had said of James and also if she really should give James the benefit of the doubt even if he acted very mean last year after their O.W.L.s. But then also thinking about this summer and about the James she had met in Diagon Alley with her parents. 'Hmmm I just don't get that guy.' Lily though to herself walking up the staircase.

-&-&--&-

James stood up with the other Marauders and quickly scanned the many people making their way out of the Hall looking for the girl of perfection herself. Then he spotted _her _walking toward the exit talking to her friends as he gave an involuntary sigh. James thought of how he was to ask her, to tell her what he really wanted. 'Start slowly, remember that James…Just you wait Lily Evans, you won't know what hit you when you realize what you've always needed but never have known you did.' James thought as he watched Lily walk out of the Great Hall and up the stairs to the Gryffindor Tower.


	4. First Day Back

A/N: Edited again on 4/4/08 for the better.

Chapter 4: First Day Back

September 1976

* * *

Lily woke up early the next morning in her four poster bed. She then went and got ready for the first day of classes.

_'Wow I can't believe that I am a sixth year and a N.E.W.T's student to boot.'_ Lily thought excitedly to herself. As she walked back into her room she noticed that Nicole and Kathleen were starting stir from their slumber.

"Morning," Kathleen yawned a greeting to Lily then got out of bed and stretched out her limbs.

"Good morning girls!" Lily said brightly, putting her hairbrush back down on her dresser and put it half up with a large flower hairclip.

"Do you guys mind if I go and take a quick shower before we go down to breakfast?" Nicole asked as she got up to gather her morning things together.

"Sure I don't care, I already got ready, so I can wait." Lily replied sitting down on her bed and picking up her wand and twirling it between her fingers.

"Nope, I don't care either." Kathleen said getting up walking to her trunk to pick out her uniform for the day.

"Okay see you in a bit then." said Nicole as she proceeded to walk to the bathroom with her things in hand.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

"Tory wake up you're going to be late for class! If you don't get up right now and get ready, you won't be able to get any breakfast!" Lily shouted in vain, trying to wake Tory up, but the girl just rolled over and gave a great snore.

"Well just because she's going to miss breakfast, doesn't mean I have to." Lily huffed, finally giving up after trying to awaken Tory for the past 10 minutes.

"Okay, Lily, I'll try for awhile. I'll be down once I wake up sleeping beauty here…" said Nicole nodding at Tory's four poster. "Hopefully at least!"

"I'll go with you Lily, I want some breakfast as well." said Kathleen. She then jumped off her bed and walked out of the dormitory with Lily.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

"Lily, Kathleen! Wait up! I'm coming!" Nicole called, running up to her friends from behind. The two girls slowed down and stopped to let Nicole catch her breath.

"Thanks… It took me practically forever to get Tory to wake up and out of bed." Nicole said holding the stitch in her side. "Ow… man you girls sure can move out when you want to." Nicole said but smiling non-the-less.

"Sorry Nicole." Lily and Kathleen said together, then the trio walked down to the Great Hall.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

Lily, Kathleen and Nicole were sitting down in the middle of breakfast when Tory came into the Great Hall with a scowl on her face.

"Hey girls, I had a very eventful morning. Nicole here conjured water out of her wand and then had it sprayed on me!" she said glaring in her friend's direction.

"Well if you would have woken up when Lily tried then you wouldn't have gotten wet this morning." Nicole said with a shrug buttering her toast.

"You actually got her wet?" Lily asked with a small smile. "I would have thought that it would be me that drenched Tory with water not you!" Nicole just smiled slyly and grabbed for more rashers and piled them on to her plate.

Professor McGonagall came over to the Gryffindor table and gave the different years their course schedules.

"So what do we have to do this year?" Tory asked Lily when Professor McGonagall didn't give her a schedule.

"Well we'll need to talk to Professor McGonagall before we can go to classes, to discuss what subjects to drop or to carry on with for this year depending on what career we choose to go into." Lily informed Tory.

"Oh thanks!" Tory said smiling for the first time that day morning.

* * *

James was sitting on his bed and was examining the Marauder's Map closely, trying in vain to find Lily on the map. Sirius was looking bored, not doing anything because he was waiting for the others to finish getting ready so that they could all walk down to the Great Hall together. Remus was in the bathroom getting ready for the day. Peter was still asleep, snoring loudly.

"Where is Lily? If I could just find her, I would like to see if she wouldn't mind letting us walk down with her to the great hall!" James said exasperatedly as he searched frantically for Lily. "WHERE IS SHE! I CAN'T FIND HER!"

"Whoa, Prongs, take a chill pill." Sirius said trying to calm James down and throwing a pillow at Peter to wake him up. ("Just five more minutes mum…" mumbled Peter).

"What's a pill?" James asked glancing up from the map to Sirius looking confused.

"Umm… I don't really know… I just heard some first year muggle-born saying it." Sirius said not sure of what a pill might be. Peter finally got up at this moment, looking groggy-eyed.

Having caught the last comment from Sirius, Remus walked out of the bathroom and rolled his eyes impatiently.

"Are you guys serious? ("Of course I'm always Sirius!") That's not what I meant Sirius, and you know it… Anyway of what I was saying. A pill is what muggles use, its kind of like a potion in a way. It helps with injuries and the like." Remus spoke in a tone as though he was explaining what two plus two equals.

"Oh..." was all Sirius said.

"Are you guys going to help me spot Lily on the map or not!" James said in an irritated voice.

"Prongs… Are you sure you don't need stronger glasses. I see Lily right down there going through the portrait hole." Remus said pointing to the two dots that said Lily Evans and Kathleen Stewart and gave James an incredulous look.

"Excuse me but I've got the go and ask Lily something." James said looking a little flustered and walked to the door closely followed by the other Marauders.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

"So, Prongs. What are you going to ask Lily?" Remus asked stepping off the last step of the marble staircase and into the Entrance hall.

"You'll just have to find out in a minute, won't you?" James said looking a little nervous. His lips curled up at the corners and he ruffed up his hair making it look even messier.

Remus gave up. He knew full well that when they stepped into the Great Hall all would soon be forgotten whenever Lily was close by.

* * *

"Hello Potter." Lily said as she saw the boys approaching the table. James sat down next to Lily and reached for the nearest plate of food that was set out on the table.

Lily felt uncomfortable at being in such a close proximity to him. She usually took a seat far away as possible from them because of all the noise they made. Her thoughts were prematurely interrupted as the said boy spoke.

"Good morning girls." said James.

"Hey James." The girls chimed together.

"Hey Sirius! Good morning!" Tory said flirting as usual.

'Man… Lily looks great this morning. How her hair comes down like that and the way her face is just glowing.' James thought hardly noticing the others around him.

"Good morning everyone, I must sat that you, Tory, are looking bright and beautiful this morning." Sirius said in a smooth voice.

'Oh no! Tory and Sirius are already putting on the charm and it's not even 8:30 yet!' Lily thought checking her watch and then rolled her eyes and looked away from the flirting pair into a pair of hazel eyes framed by glasses that stared into hers.

"Oh -- What in the world you do want - Pot -- OUCH!" said Lily as she rubbed her shin that had been kicked by Nicole.

"What?" she whispered but Nicole just gave her a meaningful look while James asked what hurt her.

"Oh nothing! Don't worry about it. Did you want something?" Lily asked sweetly and saw to her amazement that James's neck and ears were tinted a light red-ish colour.

"I was just wondering if I could talk to you after breakfast? You know, after you talk with Professor McGonagall about classes. Well, if that's okay with you of course," asked James hesitantly.

_'Wow is the very oh so popular James Potter actually blushing and looking undone,'_Lily thought. _'I never thought I'd see the day when J - Ja - Potter would act this unsure.'_

"Well, is it all right?" James persisted looking intently into Lily's piercing green eyes.

"Sure it'll be fine." Lily said continued eating breakfast and not noticing the satisfactory looks Nicole and Kathleen were exchanging, Tory would have been interested but she was too preoccupied flirting with Sirius.

* * *

"What would you like to talk about J… James." Lily said uncomfortably, thinking how weird it was to call him James. She was standing out in the Entrance Hall with James before classes were to start.

"Come over here so we won't be overheard." James said pulling gently on her arm over to one side of the hall. They walked into a little alcove off of the Entrance Hall and watched as their friends walked together out of the Great Hall, (They had already talked with McGonagall) and then departed to their first class of the day.

Lily watched as James took a large breath and then he started to talk, "Well I just wanted to tell you sorry all the stupid stuff I've done, most especially after last June. I was just wondering," James wasn't looking in her eyes anymore, they were looking at his own shuffling feet. "If we could just start being friends this year? I mean… well I am really sorry for all the stuff I've done, could you just give me this one chance?"

"Ummm... mmm." Lily stuttered. She was shocked that James Potter had actually apologized to her. "Uh--sure." she said not comprehending what was just asked of her, she was still star-struck from his sincere regret for his actions.

"Oh well I understand…_ what did you just say?"_ James asked very surprised at her answer. Lily just put her hands up to her mouth and her eyes widened even more in shock.

"Really? Really! YES! Ha ha ha!" James laughed loudly.

Everyone close by just looked startled, but after a while just went his or her different way. Lily meanwhile coming out of her stunned stupor and she finally noticed the time and then ran to her classed.

* * *

James stopped laughing and sighed of sigh relief, he was still very cheerful and very enthusiastic for the rest of the day. When he passed everyone and anyone (Even the Slytherin, of who all looked at him suspiciously) he would give a very happy hello and a wave; it was even rumored that he hugged Professor McGonagall in which she had actually been astonished enough so that she was momentarily rendered speechless.

* * *

Lily and the girls were all sitting down by the fireplace finishing that day's homework assignment. Tory was looking miserable because of Sirius having been given a detention in Transfiguration and having to do homework. Lily was working on her Charms work when Nicole decided to start a conversation breaking the silence.

"Well Lily, what did James want with you?" she asked with an eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

"Oh… that." Lily said with a blush thinking of what had happened. "Well he just asked if I could be his friend." she muttered.

"What did you say!" Tory asked loudly coming out of her sulking mood. Lily just looked uncomfortable and didn't answer; she went back to her work. Kathleen looked up from her homework mildly curious. Nicole just smirked knowingly.

"What did you answer Lily? Just answer, because we're not dropping it till you give us one. So you can just put that quill down right now." Nicole pressed.

"Well… I said… we could." Lily said hardly louder then a whisper, but her friends heard non-the-less.

_"Really?"_ Tory screeched making a couple of second years sitting at the table next to them jump up in surprise.

"Finally progress!" Kathleen and Nicole said together and giving each other a high five.

"I didn't mean to say it though," Lily said looking up from her parchment. The others just raised an eyebrow at her. "No, I'm serious I was in shock because of what he said before he asked to be friends!" Lily said defensively folding her arms.

"What did he tell you then?" Kathleen asked getting more curious by the minute and a little suspicious.

"Well, he came over to me and apologized for last June and all of the other stupid stuff that he and his 'group' have done through the years." Lily explained then looked satisfied into the flabbergasted faces of Tory, Nicole and Kathleen. "I told you it was disconcerting news." said Lily going back to her essay relieved that the interrogation was over.

"Really? James I'm-the-most-coolest-kid-in-school Potter, apologized to you of all people?" Kathleen said being the first to snap out of the trance that was identical to what Lily's reaction had been. Lily just looked up at her and simply nodded.

"Oh Merlin!" Tory exclaimed.

"See Lily! He's changed for you and you know it!" Nicole said with a determined look on her face and an odd glint in her eye. She then stood up and started for the portrait hole.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked why Nicole was leaving so abruptly.

"I need to go and talk to someone, I might be a while." Nicole replied leaving the others in shock at this startling turn of events.

* * *

Nicole walked quietly into the library where she knew she would find just the person she was looking for. Sitting at a table in the back looking slightly pale was Remus finishing an essay for Transfiguration. Peter was sitting next to him and flicking through the textbook looking uninterested in the material that he was studying.

"Hey Remus, How've you been doing? You're looking a little sick, are you okay?" Nicole asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Oh—what? No I'm just fine, never better!" Remus replied looking nervous and uncomfortable but with a ghost of a smile.

"Are you sure? Why are you so nervous then?" said Nicole.

"I'm - well - What did you want with me?" Remus asked trying to get the subject off himself.

Nicole huffed a little because of him changing the subject, but pressed onward with why she came to find him.

"I was just wondering if you knew that Lily had agreed to be James's friend since he apologized for his immaturity in the past." said Nicole quietly; waiting for a reply. Remus didn't take long to answer.

"Oh - we've _heard_ alright. Peter, Sirius and I have heard nothing other than that from James except now, of course, with him and Sirius in separate detentions." Remus said casually, if not a little relieved of having James not saying anything about the subject.

Peter nodded his head in agreement, stood up and excused himself from the room by saying that he needed to use the restroom, then departed.

"Well since you've heard, do you think that James apologized to show that he's changed?" Nicole continued her questioning of Remus after Peter had left the library.

"I would say that James is — How shall I put this," Remus paused a moment then continued after a minute had passed. "What I can say about it is this. James has been pining for Lily for a couple of years now and is now getting it through his head that his showing off around Lily isn't working.

"So I think he's finally decided that he needs to go at it from a different angle and to get, if anything at all, a friend out of Lily. The angle I think that he's trying to achieve right now is just a slow and steady friendship with her. He maybe even be trying to see a different side of Lily that he never gets to sees. James has never given up on anything in all the time I've known him. So I'm glad the work is finally paying off. Even if it's taken him a while to figure out the right way to go about it," finished Remus with an amused smile.

Nicole just pondered over what had been said and then replied. "I wish Lily could see that when she's around James he's just trying to get her attention by being a bit of an annoying teenage boy." Nicole said.

"Yeah so do I, poor James. He just never understood Lily for the life of him." Remus added shaking his head slightly. "Well I guess I better get back to work. Is that all you wanted?" he asked.

"Oh yes that's all and thank you for letting me interrupt your work." Nicole said standing up and pushing her chair back in.

"It was nothing. I enjoyed talking with you; we should do it more often." Remus said giving her a charming smile.

"Yeah it was fun talking with you." Nicole said then left Remus to his work and walked up to the Gryffindor tower to finish her homework.

Lily, Tory and Kathleen looked up and saw Nicole walk back to the table and sit down again. They looked all at each other then back to Nicole, bewildered by her actions. Lily spoke up putting her homework into her bag and sat up straight looking in Nicole's direction.

"So - What was that all about?" Lily asked.

Nicole just put her quill down that she had just picked up ready to dip it into her ink. "Well… I just had to talk with someone for a minute." she said not getting into who it was.

"Come on Nicole, you can tell us anything, we won't laugh." Kathleen added.

"Yeah we're not going to tell anyone that you have a boyfriend, and goodness knows that you need one." said Tory slyly.

"I don't have a boyfriend, Tory." Nicole said with a smirk. "If you must know, I went to the library to talk with Remus actually."

"Oh… Is that all," Lily said. "Why couldn't you tell us that before?"

"Well… I don't know. It doesn't really matter anyway. Can we just drop it?"

"Sure, it doesn't really matter. I mean it's not like you were talking about me or anything." Lily said.

Nicole looked away quickly so that Lily wouldn't see her smiling at the irony of the statement.

"Well I'm off to bed! I mean, we have to be ready for another day at Hogwarts to look forward to." Lily said to the others, while grabbing her bag and swinging it onto her shoulder.

"Night." the others called to her, she then got up and walked to her dormitory for the night.

* * *

Sirius and James were walking back up to the Gryffindor tower after their detentions they had received on the first day.

"That detention was nothing at all, Hmm, I think that McGonagall might be losing her touch. All I had to do was write lines!" Sirius said grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah I know what you mean. She didn't even know that we were using our two-way mirrors!" James said grinning as he pulled out from his pocket a small square mirror.

"I'm so glad we ordered these specially made mirrors from that Burke bloke." Sirius said thinking that it was weird that his parents didn't seem to mind that he had ordered something from a store that is known for their dark artifacts.

"It _was_ a good idea to get that order form and buy these communicational mirrors," James said as his smile faded somewhat, but then he added. "But let's not think of that right now. What we're going to do is find Moony and Wormtail, and then head to the kitchens for some food!"

"I'm right behind you all the way!" Sirius said coming out of the depressing thoughts of home and followed James to the common room, ready for a snack Marauder's style.


	5. Confusion or is it denial?

Disclaimer: This will be the last disclaimer I will formally write. I do not get paid for my written work posted here. J. K. Rowling owns all characters you recognize and love. There, if you are not pleased I can't help it.

_Listen to your heart_  
**_before you tell him goodbye_**

By Roxette

Chapter 5: Deep confusion or is it denial?

September 3rd

The next morning James was found sitting pensively on his bed, dressed for the day but no movement escaped him, or didn't until Peter ambled up to him timidly and shook him lightly.

"Hey, James, you there? It's nearly time to head for the Great Hall and lessons are going to start soon as well."

"What? Did you say something?"

"Yeah, you know breakfast? The Great Hall where we eat, before we go to classes? Anything ringing a bell?"

"Oh, right. Classes. Yeah I'm coming, just let me go and get my bag and we can go down together," said James. He then stood up walked to his trunk and pulled out his books and shoved them unceremoniously into his bag and then they walked in silence to the Great Hall. They strolled wordlessly to their destination until James asked Peter where the rest of the Marauders were.

"Oh, they headed for breakfast early this morning, and they even said hello to you before they left, but since you didn't seem to notice Sirius asked for me to stay with you and make sure you made it to breakfast in time since you weren't _quite there_. What were you thinking so hard about anyway? I mean it was like you didn't even see or hear us walking about or anything!"

"Just stuff. I don't really want to get into it right now, alright?" said James and Peter gave a noncommittal shrug as they easily sidestepped Filch by going through a secret passageway. There were no incidences on the way to the Great Hall. The two friends walked together in compatible stillness and joined the throng of other hungry students getting ready for their respective day of classes.

Lily was nervous, she couldn't exactly tell the reason why, but she had an unsettled feeling while walking to the Great Hall for breakfast alone with her thoughts and confusions. The trip was a quiet affair and the feeling did not leave but thankfully lessened when it was apparent that James had not made it to breakfast yet, but the reprieve was short-lived however. The discussion Lily overheard, held by two of the Marauders that were sitting further down the table from her, made her heart pound in her chest loudly and was surprised that no one seemed to notice or care.

"So you noticed that James was off this morning too? Did you notice how out of it he was? Last night he was bouncing to the moon because of Lily's agreement and wouldn't shut up 'til we got food to his mouth, but now, this morning he didn't even speak to us when we said good morning! He just sat there on his bed and looked like we weren't even there. " said a perplexed Black.

"Yes, it was quite unusual for him to not hurry to breakfast for a chance to greet or even just give a simple nod of the head to Lily. He seemed to be in mild shock actually, but yes it was very disconcerting to say the least, " said an uncomfortable Remus.

Lily's stomach contracted, so James's blunt attraction to her was not just shallow unrefined feelings, but he actually sensed the need to interact with her even if it were to simply nod his head to her. This was news, but it just _couldn't _be the real reason, because James could not like her in that way other than making her upset in form or another. But further thoughts on the matter were quickly put aside, for the rest of her fellow Sixth year Gryffindor girls plopped down on either side and across from her and caught up all her attention with conversations. Lily's thoughts she entertained were of her class timetables and she didn't notice the brief glance from the dark haired Gryffindor that had walked passed her to sit next to his male companions.

"As shown here, the correct wand movement for this precise spell is as thus," said Professor Flitwick. "and not forgetting to concentrate on the non-verbal incantation _roto_." He then continued to give one long swish of his wand and a quick twist at the end, and then in front of him, his saucer proceeded to rotate in a circle on the top of his desk and then announced to the class that they too should concentrate on the incantation correctly. The class then repeated the movements and thought to turn the saucer, but many failed it on the first several attempts. Lily looked down at her saucer, that was placed in front of her and then willed the saucer to turn and watched as it slowly turned until it went spinning faster and faster. "Miss Evans, great job! And on the first time too! 10 points to Gryffindor!" exclaimed Professor Flitwick to the class at large. Lily grinned a satisfied smile and looked around the classroom wondering what the problem of this simple task had to have been, to her the activity were a thing of ease enough to manage in the beginning of the lesson, but there were many struggling students and took note of their frustrated expressions. Many facial suggestions of sourness were turned in her direction for the first few minutes of Flitwick telling of her success, but then after a while their gazes were once again on the task at hand, so Lily was left to her work in peace. After completing the spell consecutively five times in a row, her mind drifted off onto a much different tangent altogether. James was different when he was away from school, that wasn't a surprise, many people were like that, and it didn't take a genius to figure that one out. But there was something else about James that couldn't be explained away, for not only had he been a bully in the past but also a very arrogant one at that, but what was it? How could he leave for the summer and came back a whole new person? He's left for the holidays for four summers now, what was different about this last year? Questions whirled Lily's mind, but no solutions or thoughts on the matter found their way to the forefront of her mind, so the mystery in the shape of James Potter a.k.a. Chaser extraordinaire went unsolved. When the bell rang Lily followed the group to the door, and then quickly marched to her next class with Professor McGonagall in Transfiguration accompanied by her friends talking about everything and nothing at all.

James was lost, not in the sense of his location because he was well known for the polar opposite, or lost in the sense of unnoticed by those around him or any such thing, no it was that he was lost deep in thought about Lily's easy acceptance of being friends. All these years wasted for nothing because of his stupid attempts that always brought up horrible consequences that had to be the last thing he had wanted, but this time all he did was give a sincere apology and here he had his greatest wish granted at long last. Yes, it was a miracle, an unexpected miracle at that, but he was thanking anything and everything for every moment he had with her. He had been thinking about his fortune and it wasn't that hard to tell that his mind of elsewhere during the day's lessons, his exuberance and progress were dampened slightly, of course no one noticed at the beginning of the lessons, for the professors made speeches on the importance of this year and the exams to come, but when asked to perform the spell work the difference was duly noted. He did indeed wordlessly turn his pincushion into a water goblet, but he was not one of the first to perform this task, which hadn't been the case for some time. The whole class was given an essay to write about the correct incantation and concentration was needed to transform rats present into a vase, a simple vase at least. The day seemed endless and he didn't even have the energy to even annoy Snape in anyway other than giving him an especially vicious death glare that promised much to come in the future. It seemed that by the time it was free period prior to dinner James had expended his entire life energy source in order to get through the day and hardly felt the need to get up to put his books back in his dormitory when he arrived in the Common Room. As if to prove the point, he then collapsed soundly in his favorite couch near the fireplace.

"So Prongs, what's zapped all the life out of you today? Did you not sleep last night or something?" asked Sirius, who had looked around making sure no one was within earshot before he spoke to the lump that was James.

"Yeah, I have been kind of distracted today haven't I, well and the fact that I did fall asleep later than usual probably didn't help matters much." was the quiet response.

"What's up? Is it Evans again? Because if it is I think I could talk some sense into her if you want me to…" he said getting halfway out of his chair looking around the room with a determined expression on his face.

"No, that's not necessary Sirius, I've just been thinking is all." said James sitting up completely from his more relaxed position on the couch.

"Oh no! You've been thinking for a whole entire day? Everyone run for cover, James Potter of Gryffindor has been thinking all day long!" said Sirius to the room at large jokingly, which everyone took to mean nothing, being all too used to the commotion from that corner of the room, nobody took notice other than the few first years lying about the room.

"Har har, very funny, and no, I don't think I'll tell you what I've been thinking about if it's the same to you."

"Ah, come on James, just spill because you know me well enough that you know I won't give up 'til I know what's going on with you." he said with another unwavering stare about his face.

"No, I don't want to and you can't make me," pouted James.

"Why not? What's the harm anyway, I might even be able to help you in some way."

"Fine. All right I'll tell you, just don't look too excited, it's not something like at all. I've just been thinking over the reasons that Lily agreed to be friends with me, I mean after all this time why is it okay to be friends with her now? I mean we could have been friends for years if she didn't have to be so stubborn about being around me! I'm not that horrible am I?" James asked with a wide-eyed pained expression on his face.

"I'm not sure why Prongs, maybe you should just ask her yourself, so that our mere guesses won't matter because you'll be able to hear it in her own words and not assumptions? And you horrible, mate, that's ridiculous. If you were horrible I wouldn't be hanging out with you would I? No way, so that's nothing to worry over. Oh look, just your luck, here she comes here's your big chance. Don't worry about her little friends, I'll go talk to them and keep them _fully _occupied."

James turned his head around and saw that Sirius was quite right; Lily and her friends had indeed come through the portrait hole and were walking in the direction of the girls' dormitory. James stood up and nodded grimly to Sirius, who took it as consent and called out to the girls before they reached the stairs and pointed Lily to the fireplace and gave her quick instructions, while he himself walked up to the others and submerge them in idle conversation. James gulped audibly and took a few calming breaths while Lily strode over to him confidently, and he quickly cobbled his thoughts collectively into what he hoped resembled something well thought-out at the very least. Finally Lily was within calling distance and spoke up first seeing that James, for the first time it seemed, wasn't going to take the initiative.

She glanced up into his face and met his unexpressive glaze with her curious one and said, "Did you want something James? Sirius said you wanted to ask me something,"

"Yes, actually I do. Er," said James. "Where to start? Well, I was wondering why you agreed to be my friend? When I asked you yesterday you ran off to class before I could talk to you for too long, and then I got myself a detention, and by the time I got back I found out that you and your friends had already gone to bed. I would also like to know what had changed your mind in getting to know me better, and of course I'm excited to get to know you better as well, but it seems so sudden that after all these years you've seemed to be angered by my presents and then you go accepting an invitation to be _my _friend. Why? I don't understand? " he said and then took a long breath, but then wondered if he had totally lost her by babbling on and on, but instead of looking lost he saw to his amusement and unpredictably enough, that she was blushing shyly for some unknown reason.

"When you apologized to me for all you've done in the past and asked if you could become my friend I was in shock, really shocked. Truth be told I was actually speechless, I mean you had never done anything like that, so I was surprised that you would express regret to me of all people." said Lily. James frowned at that he didn't think he'd been _that _rude to anyone, well except maybe Snape naturally, but Lily hadn't yet finished her point, so she continued on this vein a little while longer. "The only other time I've seen you polite like that would be in Diagon Alley and I'll tell you that it had quite astonished me, I won't be so severe to think that you're always rude and a huge arrogant prat, but the incidences have been very high in my past experiences. But for the other question, I cannot be sure why I've given you a chance, but I hope that since you do have it, it won't be for naught. As for why I ran off and such, it was because I didn't want to believe that I had in fact, given you a chance and also because not only was I going to be late for my first class but also because I didn't know how to respond to your reaction. You were quite loud you know. Yelling and scaring the people around you, but I do hope that I've answered your questions and satisfied your curiosity." finished Lily.

"I think so, I'm not so sure though, but that does answer them well enough to get by for now. I think I'd better save Sirius, he said he'd hold up the fort for a little while, but it has been some time since he had volunteered." said James, and Lily walked beside him to so that they went simultaneously. But saving Sirius was not necessary, for he had managed to entertain Nicole, Kathleen and Tory quite well. Tory was very much paying attention to Sirius, but it didn't hurt that Remus and Peter had joined the group, so that they all were contributing to the conversations as one.

The sextuplet moseyed down to dinner and the evening went smoothly and the two parties split up to do their homework in their respective studying haunts and then departed for their dormitories to prepare for the coming day full of classes.

Lily was tucked into bed but not sleepy in the slightest, so she was aware of the quiet sounds of her sleeping companions; Tory on her immediate left, snoring to her hearts content, Kathleen two beds away on her right, breathing deeply and steadily, and Nicole to her immediate right, breathing so lightly that the only way you could tell that she was undeniably breathing was watching her blankets rise up and fall back down. But Lily wasn't so much thinking about her roommates, but the enigmatic boy so mysterious, she could scarcely believe all the different James Potter masks he puts on for the world to see. It made her head dizzy simply thinking about it and she wondered how he did it all the time without fail. Wouldn't someone realize that it was all just careful rues? He was popular yes, undoubtedly, but the only thing the school saw was him the cool kid and not the sweet caring one that she met for the first time in Diagon Alley. It had taken her over five years of knowing him to realize it, and people were always banging on about how brilliant she was, but here she had failed to notice. What else had she been missing because of her unyielding stubbornness? That night she vowed to herself that she would be sure to never make that same mistake twice and promised to dig deeper before passing judgment on a person, and to notice little details and facts by making the most of every situation. How big of a difference could it make to notice more, she asked herself, she wouldn't realize know how quickly her question would be answered until it was revealed like a blast in the face.

SNEAK PEEK! The sixth chapter is called: 'Sirius'ly in Danger! We might be seeing more interaction with the Snape/Sirius/James triangle of trouble! Watch out for that one!

A/N: Okay, okay I know I haven't written for what feels forever and to some it probably has been. I much appreciate all the nice reviews I've gotten thus far, I hope I can finish this story before the last book comes out, but if not I'll try finishing this it anyway! I want to say a personal shout-out to Savannah, you know who you are; you helped me keep up with this story and have encouraged to continue writing this story which I am! I'm so very sorry for the long long wait; I can't believe that it's going to be a whole year since I first posted this story! Thank you, thank you for taking the time to read this story and (hopefully) review this story! HiJane2


	6. Set in Motion

A/N: Longest chapter I've ever written! Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 6: Set in Motion

During the next few weeks the Marauders, Lily, and her friends were seen together in the Great Hall eating at meal times and even on the rare occasion of studying together. James and Lily had in fact started getting along grandly, to all of the Gryffindors immense relief.

Sirius was very happy that Lily had finally started to give James a chance. It was soon to be full moon for the Marauders, and Sirius was very excited; not only were they going to be able to be in their animal forms, but he was going to play the biggest prank that would soon put all of the other past Marauder's pranks to shame.

Sirius Black's spontaneous nature was legendary in school, everyone knew it, heck even Peter knew! But sometimes those spontaneous ideas got him into trouble, but what was the fun in being responsible any how?

His newest prank wasn't well planned or thoroughly thought-out, but Sirius didn't take any mind to what the consequences could be, for he was just happy to be able to pull a big one right under Snape's overly large nose. He was going to put his plans into motion as soon as he could locate the person who would make this day a good one.

-&-&--&-

James was having a wonderful morning; but them again every day was a good day since Lily agreed to be friends. The time he'd been able to spend with her had to be the best time in his life. She had yet to get mad at him and he was grateful for that.

James left his dormitory and walked to the Great Hall for breakfast. As he sat down he noticed that Lily was watching Remus intently.

"What's up? Why are you staring as Remus?" he whispered quietly to her so that Remus wouldn't accidentally overhear them talking about him.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking that he looks different today, is all. I can't think of what it is though, but there's something off with him," was the reply.

"Remus?" James internally cringed but continued onward. "Nah, I don't see anything wrong with him and I should know since I have to see his face every day of the week! Don't worry about Remus; he's a tough guy he'll live. Ask him yourself if you don't believe me." said James, although he was nervous that Lily actually noticed something but he controlled his expression and tone of voice to show nonchalance.

-&-&--&-

As Remus looked over to where Lily had called to him from a few seats down he noticed that James had looked intently in his direction and had nodded his head to Lily at Remus to give him the heads up. He inclined his head to show he'd understood and then proceeded to turn his attention to the concerned redhead.

"Are you okay?" asked Lily.

Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I don't mean to pry, but you look different today and I can't put my finger on what that is. I'm worried for you."

Remus outwardly kept his face blank of emotion, but he suddenly had butterflies explode into life in his stomach as the conversation turned to his fast approaching transformation. He was grateful for James's early warning, it felt good to have friends that would watch out for you, but it didn't quite help in his current situation at the moment.

"Lily, don't worry yourself over me, I'm just fine. In fact; I'm feeling quite well today."

"Are you really?" Lily asked disbelievingly.

"Yes I'm sure and for the last time please don't worry over me. My friends would never let me leave the dormitory if I felt the least bit ill." Remus said wryly thinking back to the day after his transformation at Hogwarts when his friends had become aware of what he was.

He had tried to convince them that he was just fine and that he was used to his transformations after years of experience. He had told them that he thought he could manage a day of classes, but they were all stubbornly determined to keep him in bed and there was nothing he could do about it even after several thwarted attempts to leave the room.

"Well, if you say so, then I believe you," said Lily and then she went back to eating her breakfast and Remus was relieved. It was never easy to feed your friends lies, but what else could a person do in a situation like that?

'Tell her the truth?' He sighed mentally. 'No.'

'Then to have her run away from him, screaming my secret? Having the whole school hear about it, have them trying to corner me and then getting caught and…'

"Hey Remus. Do you know where Sirius or Peter have gotten to?" asked James interrupting Remus's horrible musings.

"I think Peter already ate and Sirius, well who ever knows where he is," Remus said shaking his head disparagingly.

"Where did Peter go after he was done eating? He couldn't have gone off to class already it's too early for that. I think I'll go look for him and if you see Sirius, tell him I'll see him in class!" said James as he left to find Peter.

Remus watched as he disappeared through the Great Hall doors. He sat there for a few more minutes polishing off his breakfast and then bent down to retrieve his bag from off the floor and then headed off to Potions.

-&-&--&-

Lily wasn't sure she quite believed that Remus was as fine as he said he was, but she didn't pursue the subject as she watched him intermediately through the rest of their meal.

It had been an odd few weeks, now that she had been spending more time with James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. She realized that they weren't as bad as she had always thought, but they were still overly excitable at odd moments and sometimes very reckless.

She quickly got up from her seat and walked up to Tori who had already finished her breakfast and was waiting in front of the doors of the Great Hall so that they could walk together to their first class.

"Hey Lily," Tori greeted as they walked across the huge entrance hall headed for the dungeons. "Have you seen Sirius this morning?"

"No, that's odd because neither had James or Remus." Lily noted with interest.

"Hmm, I wonder why? Hey isn't that him with… with Snape?" Tori gasped.

Lily snapped her eyes in front of her to see that Sirius and Severus Snape were standing in front of the marble staircase deep in conversation, though neither had their wands drawn nor were they yelling at each other.

Lily was feeling nervous for many reasons but the most prominent was that she didn't like Sirius or Severus's facial expressions. Sirius looked suspiciously pleased for some reason and Severus had a triumphant smile on his face that didn't go well with the whole Snape look.

"What are they doing, I wonder? I think I'll ask Sirius." Tori said, but Lily just groaned embarrassedly. "Hey Sirius! Over here!"

"Hello girls how're you this morning? Did you have a good breakfast?" Sirius asked as he walked over to the girls as Severus started for the dungeons ahead of them.

Tori answered before Lily could intervene. "Yes, breakfast was fine! How was your morning? What were you doing with Snape?" Tori bit out quickly as though the words couldn't get out fast enough.

Sirius changed the subject smoothly, but Tori didn't seem to notice, so Sirius and Tori walked side by side down to the dungeons chatting amicably about how the year was going for them.

Lily walked behind them at a slower speed bring up the rear. She was scared out of her wits when Nicole and Kathleen came up behind her and both draped their arms over her shoulders and whispered a boo in her ear.

Hearing her squeal of surprise Sirius and Tori turned round quickly with their wands in their hands, but after seeing Lily and her friends they continued their conversation and strode away, their voices fading as they walked away.

"You guys gave me a heart attack! Where did you two go after you left the Great Hall anyway?" It was Nicole who answered first. "Me? I was taking a detour to Professor Lanis's office to talk about my Ancient Runes essay that's due soon. I was just asking him to clarify a few things is all."

"I had to go all the way back up to the Gryffindor common room because I had forgotten my bag." she sighed, "I'm so scatter-brained sometimes." she grumbled, apparently still mad at herself.

"You'll never guess what I saw this morning! I certainly would have never believed it!" Lily said.

"You kissed James?" Nicole quipped.

"James got the nerve to kiss you?"

"Tori jumped all over Sirius?"

"Peter came onto you?"

Lily and Nicole stopped and shared a look and then stared at Kathleen.

"What? You said we'd never guess!" she said defensively.

Lily rolled her eyes and then said, "Well, to answer your questions: No, no way, of course yes, and that's just.. EW!"

"Sorry I suggested it," Kathleen muttered under her breath.

"No. What I saw was Sirius Black talking to Severus Snape. Calmly. No hexing involved. Can you believe that?"

Nicole and Kathleen's mouths dropped open in shock. Nicole recovered first. She blinked twice and then came to her senses.

"Are… are you sure that's what you saw? You mean to tell me that Sirius wasn't jinxing Snape at all?" Lily shook her head mutely.

"Wow! That is unbelievable." Kathleen said.

"I know!"

"So, you said something about Tori being all over Sirius?"

"Yeah. Tori was the one who actually saw Sirius and Severus first. But before that she bombarded him with twenty questions and is probably chatting nonstop to the potions room. Nothing new there. Look here we are already." The three friends went inside and walked to the front of the class to sit at their normal table together. Then they started laying out their supplies and waited for Professor Slughorn to arrive and start the class.

-&-&--&-

It was two minutes before the class was to start that James came barreling through the door at top speed. The door gave a loud BANG when it hit the wall and then James shut it quieter ignoring the glares he was receiving from the class members that were seated near the offending door.

He noticed that Tori had sat in the back of the class next to Sirius in his seat while he had been absent. As he walked to the back he saw in the corner of his eye that Lily had rolled her eyes at him, probably because he had cut it pretty close to the starting time, but he ignored that and walked in the back and sat on Remus's left rather than Sirius's right where Tori was sitting currently.

Professor Slughorn wattled through the door and welcomed the students to class and then proceeded to give an introduction to the proper way to brew the Cough Curing Concoction that was the days assignment.

The class then made a queue for the storage cupboard and made it back to their seats without incident.

After returning to their seats, Sirius and Tori chatted as they worked on their respective potions, but James and Remus worked in a comfortable silence after shooting each other amused looks at the other two people sharing their table.

Halfway through the lesson Slughorn walked about the room and examined the progress of the students work, up to that point.

When he passed Lily's potion he spoke to her briefly, and James could see the pleased but embarrassed expression on Lily's face and he marveled how humble she was considering how great she was in most, if not all her school subjects.

But he was displeased to see that Slughorn also stopped next to Snape's table and spoke to him as well. After Slughorn left the Slytherin's cauldron Snape seemed to have felt James's gaze because next moment his head snapped to James and he shot him a smug look, but James just glared moodily back wishing he could wipe that stupid look off of the Snape's face.

--------

"So Sirius, are you ready for tonight?" whispered Peter during a lull in the DADA lesson that the Marauder's were attending.

"Yes. Are you?" he queried back.

"Yeah, 'course I am."

"I've got a real good feeling that things are going to be really exciting tonight." Sirius said, his eyes were blazing with anticipation, which had Peter and Remus very worried. James looked on him with suspicion, he'd seen that look before and it didn't usually bode well for anyone's well-being.

"Why do you think that, Sirius?" Remus inquired apprehensively.

"Oh, you'll see." he said in a singsong voice.

"C'mon Padfoot, fess up. At least tell me, you're best friend, what you're up to." James demanded lightheartedly. He wanted to know what it was so that if it was another harebrained scheme he could put a stop to it.

"Nope, not going to happen. Not even you Prongs can budge me on this one. This is going to be a complete surprise."

"You know, you should let me help you. We're supposed to do prank projects together like we always do because we're the perfect team." James insisted.

But Sirius didn't get a chance to reply, because Professor Conner interrupted him and told them off for not paying attention to what they were supposed to be doing in class.

-------

When class was over Remus left them to go to his next class, which was Ancient Runes and Peter when off to Muggle Studies whilst Sirius and James headed back to the Common room for their break.

They walked in silence until James spoke to Sirius and startled him out of his silent ponderings.

"So, you're not going to tell me what you're up to, are you?" James speculated in a resigned voice.

"No. I'm not, but you'll find out soon enough!" he added quickly. "And I bet you'll love it too!"

"I guess we'll see." said James, and as they approached the Fat Lady he told her the password and they hurried into the Common Room.

James and Sirius went to sit in the best seats by the fire and were soon joined by Tori, who took most of the same classes as them, and they enjoyed the break together before making short work of the walk to the Great Hall for lunch.  
-&-&--&-

Lily, Kathleen and Nicole walked out of Arithmacy together discussing their latest essay assignment as they traipsed to the Great Hall.

"Can you believe Professor Robins is asking for a written three foot essay? I mean Professor McGonagall already set us a four foot essay on human transfiguration, and not to mention writing up the different components of the twelve types of dragon blood for Slughorn." moaned Kathleen.

"Well, look on the bright side," Kathleen looked at Nicole incredulously that plainly said what bright side.

"Not only are you learning to be a smart and capable witch but you'll also be seeing quite a bit of Jonathan Kirk, because he's also taking all of the classes you've just mentioned. But surely you don't need me to tell you that because I'm positive that you've already figured that out haven't you? I'm certain that that must be a bright side, am I right?"

Nicole didn't get an answer, but then again it didn't seem she expected to get one.

The girls knew that Kathleen had a major crush on the fellow Gryffindor sixth year, but he had yet to notice her.

As Lily watched the exchange, she was pleased to note that Kathleen had blushed a delicate pink when Nicole implied that she had been scrutinizing Jonathan closely, which Lily was sure she had, but then she decided to take pity on the girl and announced that she was famished and urged the other girls to hurry to their destination.

As the trio walked to their seats next to the boys and Tori, Kathleen had the misfortune to trip right in front of where Jonathan sat enjoying his meal. When she had straitened up, her cheeks were rosy from her blush and then she scarpered to her seat on the right side of Sirius and didn't see, as Lily had, that Jonathan had evaluated Kathleen closely as she had retreated to her seat.

Lily hoped that him watching her was a good sign, for she wanted Kathleen to finally get noticed by her crush, but decided not to say anything just in case nothing became of this simple incident.

"Hey you guys. How was Ancient Runes?" asked Tori.

"Oh, just more homework to do, nothing terribly exciting." said Lily. "Did you get any homework done during your break?" she asked and she wasn't surprised when Tori gave an amused but guilty look as she shook her head no.

"Actually, the boys and I just played a few hands of Snaps and talked the whole time!" Tori said with what Lily had assumed it to be a winning smile.

"Yeah, James and I were just relaxing in our chairs when this little ball of energy plopped down next to us and started giving us the four-one-one on the oh so mysterious Lily Evans." Sirius teased.

Lily didn't believe for one moment that Tori would have wasted a minute with Sirius just to talk about her. "Yes. And what did Tori say, hmm?"

"Well she told me that you love reading and your favourite book is called Pride and Prejudice by Jane something or other. I don't quite remember the last name. And she also said that you even have a secret love for drawing." He informed her to her shock. She thought that it might have been from another source but she didn't know who would know those facts so she let it pass and started a homework lecture.

"Wow Sirius, I'm impressed, I didn't think you had it in you to remember such useless information when you could have been doing your homework that I know you have. Don't forget that Professor McGonagall will the expecting an essay next week and I would say you'd probably want to enjoy a free weekend, and you should know your homework will not do it by itself." she finished smugly .

"You do have a point there, but I've managed before and I can do it again." he retorted.

"Enough about homework, let's eat!" said Peter, who like Remus, just managed to catch the end of the conversation and sat down piling food onto his plate.

Lily observed Remus again and noticed that he looked… weaker? 'That's weird, of all the years I've known him, I've never noticed a perceptible change in him before.

There is the fact that I've tried to stay away from his companions for the past few years though, so that must be the reason I've never detected a change in his appearance until now.'

"Are you sure you're alright Remus? You look a bit peaky." said Lily concerned for her friend.

"You asked me this morning and I told you I was fine, more than fine actually. Don't worry over me, I'm just fine." Remus insisted gently.

"I know I did, but I care about you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you.

"Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to me." he said reassuringly.

As Lily and Remus were discussing Remus's health issues, the others tucked into to their food with enthusiasm and everyone chatted easily until it was time for their next class to start, so they picked up their respective bags and left the Hall together to endure more essay assignments and N.E.W.T's lectures from all of the Professors.

-&-&--&-

Whilst Madame Pomfrey escorted Remus to the Shrieking Shack, the rest of the Marauder's were sitting in the common room with Lily and her friends trying to finish off some of their essays that were allotted to them earlier that day.

The Marauders had made up a plan of how they were to break from the castle and all of the current occupants that were within the walls. Sirius was to drag Peter up to their dormitory and James would beg off saying that he had to take a book that was due soon, back to the library.

James wanted to hurry this along so that they could make it to Remus's side before he transformed into a werewolf, but Sirius had to start moving out soon if they were to make it in time.

Sirius was inpatient to get going, of that James was sure, he had noticed that Sirius had barely written anything and had been restlessly fidgeting in his seat for the past hour and James wasn't surprised when he suddenly spoke his name out loud.

"James? Peter? Do you guys want to polish up these essays in our dormitory? I'm feeling a bit crowned down here." said Sirius looking irritable, though not from the noise of the common room, but from impatience.

"Well I guess so, I don't really have a preference." Peter said.

"No. You and Peter go on up, I have to make a trip to the Library before it closes, there's a book that's due and I don't want to do a repeat of the last time I didn't bring a book in on time.

"Madame Pince still hasn't forgiven me and that was ages ago that I did that too. I know this because every time I walk in there, she scrutinizes every little thing I do, quite irritating and uncomfortable for me to say the least." James said with a convincing grimace on his face.

"But you better take my bag upstairs with you since I won't be needing it." he said as he silently dug out the book that was "due" back soon before relinquishing to Sirius to be taken up to the dormitory.

"Oh, okay then. Come on Peter, grab your things, we'll finish upstairs." Sirius said as he and Peter bent down and collected their things from the floor. Next moment they said their parting words to the girls and marched purposely to the boys' staircase to "study".

James watched as his friends reached the staircase and into their dormitory to get his Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map so they could arrive at the Shrieking Shack without an encounter with a Professor, or worse the Headmaster.

When he heard a distant door snap shut, he stood up and stretched his arms over his head still holding the book in hand and worked out all the stiffness from his body, and after he felt all the tightness leave his body he then started for the portrait hole.

"I'm gone, see you girls later. Don't wait up for me." he said charmingly as he winked at them but looking especially close at Lily's reaction to his jesting.

When the girls told him goodbye, Lily had rolled her eyes playfully at him and smiled a small smile. and she too told him goodbye.

James felt butterflies surface in his stomach as he saw her smile at him, but he was jolted out of his musings when he became aware of a small tap on his shoulder that told him that Sirius and Peter were ready to leave.

He then sauntered to the portrait hole and managed to get them out of the room without making any one the wiser that there had been more than one person leaving the room at one time.

As he ducked under the Cloak with his friends he detected a gleam of eagerness on Sirius's face that he didn't like, but that only intensified the feeling of unsettlement. Usually when the joke was lighthearted, Sirius would tell James all about it, but today it had a whole different feel to it and it worried him.

But as they walked to the Shack, he quickly forgot about it because of the excitement that rolled off the other boys and he quickly pushed it to the back of his mind, so that he could concentrate on the quick-approaching adventure that they were sure to have tonight.

When they finally reached the lawn they threw the Cloak off and James hurriedly shoved it in his pocket and he saw Sirius muttering "Mischief Managed" as he tapped the Map with his wand and then stuffed it in his pocket.

"Oh, you guys, I forgot to put the book somewhere safe, you go on ahead of me and I'll catch up with you in a minute!" James said as he turned around and jogged to the castle. Sirius and Peter looked at each other and shrugged as they both continued on their way to the Shack.

James soundlessly crept back into the castle and opened the first class room that he came to and set the book a top a pile of other books on one of the desks in the room and then walked back to the door and opened it enough to check to see if the coast was clear, but what he saw made his heart stop.

-&-&--&-

He would find out what they were hiding even if it were to be the last thing he ever did in this life.

Did Black really tell him the truth when he had said that if he simply just prodded the knot at the base of the Whomping Willow with a long stick, that the tree would simply stop moving and he would know where Lupin went every month?

Well he would just have to brave it this one time, if only to find out if he could find some dirt on the brainless Gryffindors as good blackmail material.

He then opened the door that lead to the front lawn and grinned. 'This' he thought to himself 'is going to be an eye opening experience.'

-&-&--&-

James couldn't believe it! The nerve of him! Sneaking around without taking in consideration of what could happen if you just randomly go into a FORBIDDEN place without knowing what's to be come of you! How stupid was he really, who would do that? Apparently Snape spoke a voice in his head.

After James had spotted Snape slipping out the front doors, he had whipped out his Invisibility Cloak and pulled it on over his head and trailing behind at a safe distance, so that Snape wouldn't know someone was shadowing his every move.

He watched as Snape picked up a fallen branch and prodded the knot, then glided silently down into the hole, into the darkness below.

-&-&--&-

'Would the tunnel never end?' Severus walked across the dirt floor bent over double for what seemed like hours. He had the peculiar feeling that he was being followed but he shrugged it off, how could anyone follow him in this tunnel without being seen?

'Ridiculous.' Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. 'What was that sound? Was that a howl?' Nothing much scared Severus, thank you very much, but this was different. This was real and it sounded close. But before he could ponder more of what he had heard, he heard another sound that was closer and much more menacing. It sounded like a wolf.

'A wolf? In this tunnel? What would it be doing in here?'

Then he saw it. It wasn't just a wolf, it was a werewolf.

Severus's body froze as he looked into the eyes of the monster before him, but before either could move James Potter suddenly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Severus roughly by the arm and proceeded to drag him up through the tunnel and back out onto the lawn, but not before Severus heard the werewolf snarling and snapping at the wooden planks that blocked his way trying to get to him anyway possible.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! You could have been killed! Why, oh, why did you just go into that tunnel without finding out what was at the other end before venturing down there? Hmmm? Did you think of that?

"No. Of course you didn't! You just thought, Hey that's cool, let's just go under a vicious tree into a creepy black hole to see what's at the other end.

"Well, it's NOT cool, not only did you almost die, but me too since I was the stupid idiot to go and save you after I watched you crawl into that hole over there." James Potter stopped shouting, breathing hard and fastened a murderous look in Severus's direction.

Severus was used to being yelled at, but he certainly wasn't going to take it from Potter; of all people. Even if Potter did just save his life and he did actually say something worth listening to, but it didn't mean that Severus was going to tell Potter that he was right to his face.

"Don't you talk to me about no thinking before an action, Potter." Severus sneered to cover up the blush that wanted to stain his checks because of his foolishness. "I didn't know because Black never told me what I was about to see, only that if I took a stick and prodded that knot, I would know what Lupin gets up to every month."

"What do you mean? What's Sirius got to do with this?" Potter asked as his face paled significantly in the light of the full moon.

"It was Black that told me how to get into that tunnel and it was him that approached me and volunteered to give me the information on how to get past the Whomping Willow."

"You're lying. Sirius wouldn't do anything like that." Severus was pleased to note that Potter had grown even paler and had even fallen to his knees in shock.

"I tell only the truth." he retorted, putting emphasis on each word, knowing that Potter could hear the truth in his voice.

"We need to see Professor Dumbledore. Right now." Potter said as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Now? But it must be near midnight at the very least, wouldn't you think it's a bit late for social calls." Severus pointed out sharply.

"This is very important and he needs to know what has happened," insisted Potter. "C'mon, before more time is wasted."

Potter didn't wait for a reply, he just stomped back toward Hogwarts and then waited impatiently in front of the castle doors for Severus to make it to his side. Potter then unlocked the doors, which Severus raised his eyebrows at, and walked to the Headmaster's office entrance without meeting anyone on the way.

"Do you know the password?" asked Potter.

Severus shook his head no, but Potter wasn't derailed from his task he just kept guessing different kinds of candies until "Licorice Wand" seemed to be the magic words.

"Well this is a certainly an unexpected visit. How may I help you boys?" Professor Dumbledore asked pleasantly, obviously not caring that two of his students were out of bed at a ridiculously late hour, and that the boys seemed to be covered from head to toe in dirt.

"Well Sir. The truth is that… er… we… er.. We found out where Remus goes for his monthly transformations. Sni… I mean Snape here, almost got catch by Remus tonight, but luckily I saw Snape go under the Whomping Willow and had a bad feeling, so I followed him in and then ran us back out when we saw what was at the end of the tunnel."

"Do you have anything else to add Severus?" questioned Professor Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling, but that did nothing to improve Severus's mood.

"No, Sir."

"Very well, but I must ask you Severus, to never speak of this to anyone. Do you understand? It is crucial that it remain unknown to anyone other than the ones who so willingly accept Remus Lupin as himself, and not taking any regard to his other less tamable self." Professor Dumbledore said looking toward Potter for a moment before facing Severus again, his eyes twinkling merrily, despite the seriousness of the conversation.

"Yes, Professor, I understand. I will not speak a word to anyone about this." Severus responded tonelessly.

"All's well that ends well." Dumbledore quoted. "Very well you may go, but I must ask you not to go wandering after hours again or I will have no choice but to give you an appropriate punishment for your actions." he said with a mysterious smile and the boys acknowledged it as a dismissal left quickly.

Potter paused at the bottom of the rotating stairway and turned to Severus and said, "I'm sorry for what Sirius nearly did to you. It is inexcusable and for that I'm sorry."

Severus was astonished, for he had never in all the years of knowing Potter, ever heard him say that he was sorry. He didn't know what to say so he said nothing.

Severus was still infuriated with Black, the moronic idiot who almost got him killed by a ferocious werewolf; moreover, Potter had been the one to save him. Where was the justice in the world? Why did his rival have to save him, why couldn't it have been someone else, anyone else in fact. But that was neither here nor there, for it was over and done with.

Grudgingly Severus thanked Potter for saving his life and walked back to his dormitory in deep contemplation as plotted revenge against the stupid idiot that had got him in this stupid mess in the first place.

Later as Severus prepared to get into bed he mulled things over and adamantly set his beliefs on the fact that since Lupin had played such a big part of this fiasco, that he and Black must have been in it together and they had planned it just so, so that he could act as though he were completely innocent because of him not being in a sensible state of mind and that he, Severus, could get killed by a feral werewolf without consequences for Lupin at all.

'What a nightmare. This doesn't end here just because Potter tried to save his own skin by saving mine.' And with those thoughts Severus fell into an agitated slumber.

-&-&--&-

James was not happy. No, he was livid, extremely livid. A dragon would look tame compared to how angry James felt toward his friend, the one that didn't seem to have a brain in his head. No he seemed to just have a rock in the place of one.

'How could he do that to Snape? How could he have done that to Remus? One of his best friends even!'

James didn't sleep at all, he just paced round and round his dormitory waiting for Sirius and Peter to return so that he could give Sirius a good tongue-lashing after casting a well placed silencing charm. When James was on his last nerve and was about to look for Sirius himself, the said person walked in the room followed by an anxious Peter.

"How could you do that Sirius? How? What possessed you to go and reveal a secret that was not yours to divulge? How could you do that to your friend? Your friend?" James said in a loud voice, not caring what volume it was, for he knew that he had successfully cast the silencing charm on the dormitory.

"I… I don't know. I just thought it would be funny to see what would happen if Snape actually did what I told him to do. I wasn't…" Sirius trailed off, knowing that speaking repentant words would not take back the actions committed.

"Let me guess, you weren't thinking, right? Well you're right, because not only did Snape almost die but me as well! I had to go and save him before he was Remus's midnight snack!" Sirius flinched visibly but James wasn't finished,

"Great thinking, Sirius, now SNAPE knows what Remus is. Did you think he'd just forget about it and then everything would go back to the way things were and all would be fine and dandy? Well now you've just given our enemy some ammunition to fight back with.

"What if he threatens to reveal Remus's secret, hah? What if he actually does do it because we push him too far in the future, and then Remus won't be allowed to attend Hogwarts with us. Or maybe if it gets revealed, he won't be able to get his dream job to be a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher when we get out of school. How would you feel then Sirius?"

At the end of James's tirade; his tone gradually fell to a much lower volume. He didn't want to yell anymore, but he needed to show Sirius how severe the situation was and could have been. He looked at Sirius and waited for his response.

"I would hate for Remus to have to leave school on the account of me. I know words are useless and I also know that what I did just made me about the biggest prat in the world.

"But James, you're my best friend, I know you're mad at me but please don't hate me. I can handle hate from my family, because that's all I expect from them, but you. You and your family are more my family than the one I grew up in. Yell at me. Hit me, I don't care. But please don't hate me, I couldn't handle that. I just hope I haven't blotched it all up with Remus though."

"I don't hate you Sirius, and I never will, but just promise me, promise me that you won't do anything too reckless until you've spoke with me. Okay?"

"Okay, deal." Sirius replied and then he grabbed James and they gave each other a quick manly hug, but then thought 'what the heck' and Sirius told Peter to join them and they all hugged until they were jolted into reality when James checked his watch and found that the time moved on without their notice. He was shocked to see that it was nearing five in the morning and that they should probably get in a few hours of sleep before it was too late. So they all climbed into their respective beds, still in their day clothes and quickly drifted off into oblivion.

2# A/N: So it's been a long long time. Sorry! But since no one ever reviews my stories anyway, so I'm not disappointing anyone away! I have written a few pages in Word of chapter 7, so if you do like this story and want me to continue you have to review or I'll just think that everyone thinks my work is crap and I'll stop writing it! Until then HiJane2


	7. Lily's Discovery

Chapter 7: Lily's Discovery

Lily didn't, no, couldn't fathom why the boys looked so tired when she knew that they retired to their dormitory early the previous evening and never left the tower since she stayed in the common room late and didn't see them at all.

Since she and James had started to warm up to each other she decided that she most likely could get the answers if she asked nicely.

"Good morning James. How are you this morning? You look completely worn out."

She received a garbled "fine" as a reply and then a loud thud reverberated down the length of the table as James slumped forward and slammed his head on said table. Tori looked over surprised, but then after seeing the cause of the disturbance she laughed loudly and those that were closest also joined in the laughter. Lily saw that Sirius, Peter and Remus weren't looking much better, but that only set off Tori again and by the time she regained her composure James had started looking more alert and was glaring at her.

Lily laughed but was determined to question James when he could keep his eyes open for more than a few seconds.

"Are you going to eat at all before classes? We don't have time to have a lie-in before our first class starts." Lily said.

"I'm just really -yawn- tired. I stayed up way too late last night," said James while giving Sirius a side-glance out of the corner of his eye. Lily was shocked to see Sirius look shame-faced and stared down at his plate in front of him. After a moments pause, she couldn't contain her curiosity after the way Sirius looked guilty of something and the way James didn't seem his usual cheery self, so she straightened her shoulders and asked what was on her mind.

"Why are you so tired today? What were you doing up so late?"

"I was - studying. I mean, when I was returning the library book back Madame Pince shut the doors and locked me in. It took me a while to get out of there unnoticed by her. It wasn't easy, I'll tell you that much."

In Lily's opinion he still looked too shifty to be sincere, but with classes so close to starting she couldn't pursue the matter without being late. As she reached for her bag that lay at her feet she sensed rather than heard James let out a relieved sigh. Lily told her friends to hurry and then they followed her out of the great hall and on to the grounds so that they could depart for the greenhouse together.

* * *

James awoke slowly and after looking at his watch he groaned in annoyance, as he had to start getting ready for the day if he wanted to be on time. Since none of the Marauder's got very much sleep the previous night, it would be hard to concentrate on their lessons.

After promising himself that he would go to bed early he crawled out of bed sleepily and stretched his arms out over his head feeling marginally more alert but still drained.

As he headed for his trunk his eyes automatically scanned Sirius's bed he was surprised to see that it was vacated of its owner, but James just shrugged and looked first to Remus and then to Peter before he awoke both of them from their dreams.

After James was done with the usual morning rituals and was about to leave the confines of the dormitory he was stopped by a small voice that said, "Hey James. Could I talk to you for a moment?"

James gradually turned round and faced Sirius for the first time since last night, and their was a humbled but determined glint in Sirius's eyes that James wasn't used to seeing there. It wasn't often that he could get Sirius to feel true remorse for smaller stupider stuff he did, so James felt that this 'accident' had some benefits to it after all.

There was a pregnant pause as they looked at each other and it was Sirius that broke the silence, as James knew he would.

Sirius cleared his throat noisily and then said, "I just wanted to er - say I'm sorry again. I know you're really tired and it's my entire fault. I know that now. I'm going to say sorry to Remus after I'm done apologizing to you. Can we just put this completely behind us?"

James sighed, and then said, "I know you're sorry. I don't doubt that, but I don't think I can just forget about it as easily as that, so we'll just take it a day at a time. Yeah?"

Yeah, a day at a time."

"Well we better head down if we want to get any breakfast this morning. Come on, let's go."

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

_"Why are you so tired today? What were you doing up so late?"_ Lily asked.

James gulped, wracking his brain for a decent lie that she might swallow down. Getting inspiration from his phony errand the night before, he stated a plausible lie, something about being locked up in the library. He knew from the look on Lily's beautiful face that she didn't believe a word he said. But before she could question him further he distantly heard the first bell toll and she bent down to retrieve her bag from off the floor, and as she did so, he silently sighed at the respite from Lily's queries that he didn't want to answer.

After she stood up to go to Herbology he stayed seated for a few more minutes and grabbed a couple of pieces of toast to munch on and quickly gulped down the rest of his pumpkin juice before gathered up his things and left the great hall with his friends.

* * *

Sitting completely across the common room Lily speculated what the boys could have possibly been doing the night before, but she didn't seem to be getting very far with all of the commotion that was present in the room around her.

She saw a fellow sixth year Mary McKinnon, younger sister to Marlene, flirting with a few boys in front of the hearth. She also noticed that most of the first years; it seemed, that they were striving to be the loudest noise in the room, which in Lily's opinion, they were succeeding quite remarkably.

On her last nerve, she quickly bolted to the far side of the room to were James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were studying and cleared her throat determinedly to catch their attention. But before James could open his mouth to ask her what she wanted she hastily requested Remus's assistance in maintaining the noise level that seemed to be rising by the minute.

Together they made short work of the flirtatious group by the fire and calmly asked the first years to rein in their enthusiasm over the gobstones game they were playing.

After all had settled down to a manageable level in which to study in, Lily quietly and sincerely told her thanks to her prefect partner and walked with him back to the table that he had previously been sitting at.

She pointedly looked in James's direction, remembering that she had wanted to interrogate him further. As if he felt her penetrating gaze he looked up into her face and a wide smile spit across his face, she straitened her back and said, "James, could I bother you for a moment please?"

He shrugged unconcerned, and then she lead him over to a quiet corner that was shielded from the view of the rest of the room by a large vine-like plant that draped like a veil.

"So you wanted to speak with me?" James asked.

Lily didn't know where to start so she just asked what was on the forefront of her mind.

"What were you really doing last night that made you so tired that you looked like a walking zombie from the dead?"

"What's a zombie?" he asked curiously, but Lily wanted to get a straight answer from him without interruptions.

"Don't change the subject Potter," she said in her best McGonagall impersonation. "no distractions or silly questions. I would really like to know. It just seems a bit funny how you always look like that after every... um... what aren't you telling me?" she asked, but her tone wasn't demanding, near the end her voice had changed to a hurt tone.

During her question, it occurred to her that she didn't know very much about him and his group. She hated things being unknown to her, so with the feeling of missing something important, she decided pleading would be the best route to take in order to get the information that she desired. After knowing of James's attraction to her; she assumed that getting the answers to her questions would be easy, so she was very shocked when he gave is reply, "I can't tell you. Begging won't help if that's what your thinking."

Lily was surprised by the resolute manner of which he spoke to her. She had never in her life ever think that James Potter would deny her of anything that she asked of him because of his infatuation with her. But mutely she shook her head and pressed on.

"Why can't you tell me? I don't see a reason not to." Lily knew she was being unfair to ask such a personal question, but at times like this, her curiosity overruled her head by a huge extent.

"Reason one: I can't tell you because it's not my secret to tell. Reason two: because I promised not to tell and reason three: just because I like you doesn't mean I worship you." he said sharply, and then he stomped off back to his table.

But before he reached it Lily yelled for all of the room to hear, "Fine. Don't tell me. If you can't tell me, then don't ever talk to me ever again. Our friendship is over Potter, before it even got started!"

When the words left her mouth she immediately regretted them, but after a minute of complete silence in the room her embarrassment rose as she felt the gaze of almost all of the Gryffindor house looking at her in shock, After she felt the feeling come back into her legs she quickly ran to the girls' staircase and into her dormitory, away from all the stares.

As she lay in bed thinking over the things she said and shouted, the shame and guilt filled her whole entire body. She felt alone in her grief of the words she could never take back.

What did James think of her now? There was not possible way she could talk to him or even look at him without bursting into tears because the rash words she hastily had uttered.

'I must avoid James at all cost. Even if he does forgive me, which I highly doubt, I won't deserve it. Why didn't I just let it go? I am such a fool. Oh well... too late for...'

As the rest of the sixth year girls entered the dormitory she ignored them and pretended to be asleep, she didn't think she could be able to stand their questions. The only thing that would happen if she allowed questions would inevitably be tears... too many tears.

When everything was quiet again and sleep fell upon the girls Lily was still awake, but as she slowly drifted into unconsciousness a lone tears making a trail down her delicate face, a mark of true remorse.

* * *

_'Our friendship is over Potter, before it even got started!'_

The words echoed over and over in James's head. His heart stopped. It restarted with a vengeance, stuttering and hammering so hard that he was stunned that no one seemed to be able to hear it.

The whole room was deathly silent. Everyone was looking at him with either shock or pity, though each were equally justified considering the circumstances, he hated both.

He heard Lily hurdle upstairs, her ascent was the only sound made, for the common room was quiet as though sound was temporarily stolen from the room. James didn't understand why no one else appeared to feel the earthquake that shook his whole body, his whole being and his very soul.

A minute passed, two minutes passed, but nothing moved or made a sound until James couldn't stand it anymore. He swiftly darted for the portrait hole and blindingly ran for the sanctuary of the forbidden forest. He was not quiet as he made his way down nor did he put on his Invisibility Cloak, but despite that, he fled the castle unencumbered by man, beast or ghost.

When he reached the forest edge he slowed to a walk and when he felt completely secure that he was alone in the forest he changed into his animal form.

Prongs ran. Faster. Never stopping. After a time he paused, the trees clustered together in tight-nit groups indicated that he was deep within the middle of the forest, but he felt no fear knowing this. As his acute eyes scanned the area he felt calming relief from the human emotions that had slowly drained from his body as he ran.

_Humans_

Why did humans have to feel so much all the time? Animals certainly didn't feel strong emotions all the time. The only time strong emotions prevailed upon them were only if they were ever in danger or hunting for sustenance for themselves.

Prongs didn't feel human, only the feeling of freedom as his powerful body trampled through the brush that lay on the forest floor.

Just as Prongs was about to return to the human world and into his human body he heard rustling come from behind him. He quickly whipped his head around and he saw a very large grim like dog come through the thicket of trees with a small rat sitting on his wide back.

When Padfoot spotted the tall majestic stag and entered the small clearing he gave a low bark that showed a sign of sympathy. Wormtail squeaked before he scampered off of Padfoot and clambered back up onto the stag instead.

Prongs cantered up to the large dog and lowered his head and gently bumped noses with Padfoot that plainly said, 'I'm fine.' He then gestured with his head that he was going to go back to the castle.

Not forgetting that Wormtail sat on his back he trotted off with Padfoot close behind until they started see Hogwarts grounds and then Prongs stopped to change back into his human form.

When their bodies were all set to rights, Sirius spoke to James before they left the protective cover provided by the forest.

"Are you sure you're okay? What Lily said must have hit you hard since I know how much she means to you. Who knows, maybe it'll all blow over in a few days and all will be well again," he said optimistically. "Don't worry, she's turn around eventually, I promise. Even if I have to make her see sense myself."

"I'm not worrying. Don't have a big fuss over me, I'll be fine. I am fine. Just let me have some time to think things through. Both of you, thanks for coming and seeing if I'm okay. I appreciate it." James said in a dead sort of voice.

Sirius and Peter gave him a small smile and together they walked back to the common room without a word.

As James followed his friends into the common room, everyone again quieted down and stared at him, but he didn't stay to see if anyone would come and talk to him. Jogging to the boys' stairway he avoided everyone's eyes and he took the stairs two at a time and hastily shut the door after his dorm-mates made it into the room.

After James closed the door he speedily changed into his pajamas and slammed the curtains around his four poster shut and cast a Silencing Charm to block the noise that resounded from the room.

Before he drifted off to sleep his last thoughts were of the redhead beauty that had stolen his heart years earlier. Could he survive this heart-break? What was to happen, would happen, so he just had to wait and see if it would be better then what he felt now. And these were the last thoughts he had before he slipped into a troubled sleep.

* * *

For the next few weeks Lily avoided James as much as she could. She didn't want to see what her few careless words had done to the guy she never thought could ever become so lifeless and glum. Even though he was Quidditch captain, she noticed that the team had yet to practice this year. Although the Gryffindor team was not to open the Quidditch season this year, but it was most unusual for James to not start practicing right away.

Though she did not like to think of the reason for that, but the words that she had yelled at him were ingrained into her brain, as though recorded into her memory and brought up every time she thought of him. Whenever she saw James in the halls or at the Gryffindor table she could never get up enough nerves to apologize to him, it was getting ridiculous, but she couldn't get over how she had not only embarrassed herself but also yelled at him unnecessarily.

_"Some Gryffindor you make."_ she thought morosely as she walked out of the DADA classroom, and as she neared the door she noticed that Remus Lupin was bent down lacing up his trainers.

When she reached him he had just stood up and turned around and would have bumped right into her had she not spoke up first.

"So Remus, are you up for patrolling tonight?" Lily asked as they made their way down to the great hall for lunch.

"I'm very sorry Lily, but this week isn't a good week for me. Would sometime next week be all right?" said a apologetic Remus.

"Sure, that's no problem. I don't mean to pry and you don't have to tell me why but what are you going to be doing?" she said hesitantly. "Normally you're pretty flexible with your schedule."

"My mother is quite ill and I visit her about once a month and this week was planned to be when I would see her." he replied.

"I'm terribly sorry about your mother! How terrible for you. Is there anything I could do for you or your mother?" Lily asked eagerly, she felt horrible for not knowing about Remus's mother ill health.

"No, it's okay, but if it'll make you feel better I'll tell her of your concern for her and she'll be flattered that you thought of her."

"Surely there is something I could do for your mother." Lily persisted. "How about a card or a simple bouquet of flowers for her?" she added thinking of the things that she could do to for his poor mother.

"Please Lily, there is nothing that you could do for her. but I appreciate that you would go out of your way to be nice to her. But please believe me when I say that there is nothing that you could do for her." Remus said firmly, but not unkindly.

"Okay, please just tell her I wish her well since you say that I can't do anything for her." she said grudgingly. "Just remember, Remus John Lupin, that I will not forget this conversation and will want to be informed if you change your mind and you will tell me when I can do anything for your mother. Got that?"

"Yes, I understand you quite well, Lily. But you really don't have to be overly worried over my mother. She's not in a life threatening situation, just sick. I mainly go to cheer her up because she gets so lonely when I'm at school." he confessed quietly.

Lily smiled, she thought it was very sweet that Remus would leave Hogwarts just so that he could keep him mother company, so after that she let the subject drop and they walked in silence for the rest of the journey to enjoy their meal with their friends.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

Later that evening Lily was working hard trying to make a dent into the mountain of homework that she had to complete for her lessons. As she stretched taking a well deserved break she peaked out the window and noted that tonight was a full moon.

She remembered her earlier conversation with Remus and his unfortunate ill... _mother_?

Could it be? Had she never noticed the signs... she had to check before she assumed the worst and made a mess of things. She briskly stalked upstairs, not wanting to draw attention to herself but hurried as she made her way to her trunk and pulled out her well used journal.

Nimbly she flipped through the pages swiftly and after several minutes she found the entry she was looking for.

_Date: October 15, 1975_

_Dear Journal,_

_Tonight I went on my first Prefect's watch with Remus, whom though very nice, doesn't have good taste in picking friends! Stupid friends of his, they don't have any common sense, any of them. But luckily I was partnered with the only sensible one of the lot! I enjoyed talking with him, but for the most part it was in a comfortable silence that we finished our rounds. I was worried over the state that Remus was in tonight, he was very peaky looking, but he assured me that he was fine and that it was just a passing cold. The odd part about the whole thing is that I never had noticed that before, but I know he'd never lie to me, so I'll just let it go._

_Last night Tory persuaded Nicole, Kathleen and I that we should play Truth or Dare and I was the THICKone to accept her dare. It was so cold when I had to go pluck some fluxweed from Professor Sprout's personal collection without being caught by anyone. And I HAD to pick the fluxweed, Tory insisted, because they are only good on a full moon otherwise..._

* * *

What does Lily think she knows? Is she right? Tell me what you think! Please review! bkwrmgrl87


	8. Remus's Confession

A/N: As an author, I usually know what's going to happen (Duh!), but as I wrote this chapter a character, who I thought would be coming much later, decided that this chapter was the one he wanted to be a part of. All I can say is he certainly knows how to make an entrance! J

Chapter 8: Remus's Confession

James rubbed his eyes blearily and felt around for his glasses and after he slid them on he then proceeded to dress slowly, not wanting to leave the comfort of his bed.

Last night was full moon and the Marauder's had all gone exploring the Hogsmeade village, and as Padfoot and Moony were scaling a rocky hill - Prongs, having hoofs couldn't make it. Wormtail stayed behind to keep him company - they found a small crevice that opened into a deep cave.

James enjoyed the feeling of freedom when he was in his animagus form, but the best part was being able to share it with his three best friends that would do anything for him, as he knew he would do the same for them. He loved the feeling of unity as they ran as one, exploring either the village or the Hogwarts grounds.

After a few minutes his thoughts were interrupted by a loud growl coming from James himself. He hadn't immediately noticed that he was so hungry, but when he was awake enough to realize that he was indeed starving he hurried his friends down to breakfast.

When the post came he saw a large package being carried by his faithful owl Blotch, being named thus for the large black spot on the otherwise white owl. As he reached for the package he was surprised to find himself pecked sharply by the irate owl.

"ARRRGH! Blotch what was that for?" James demanded loudly as he received several stares, having startled many people sitting nearest him.

Blotch gave James a cool baleful look and slowly stuck out his leg for James to untie the parcel.

It took a moment, but after a minute James understood why the owl could be so mad at him.

"I'm sorry Blotch. I haven't visited you up in the owlery very much as of late. If I give you an owl treat will you forgive me?" he begged the owl. Blotch hooted stiffly but in the end decided to forgive the boy, because after getting the promised treat he nipped James's finger softly and rose gracefully up in the air and into the beautiful morning light.

After he watched his owl disappear in the distance he was immediately reminded of the reason Blotch showed up. James gingerly picked up the medium sized box and after seeing that it was from his mother he quickly whipped out his wand and said, "Diffindo."

The wrapping fell down and revealed a nicely wrapped parcel of what looked like homemade treacle fudge. His favorite, of course, what else would his doting mother send him? Shaking his head from side to side in exasperated amusement he opened the parcel and sampled a small piece. It was delicious. He then wrapped it back up, ignoring the loud protests from Peter and Sirius, for they also wanted to "sample it", to make sure it was safe enough for human consumption.

But James had learned the hard way not trust those two with food that he wanted to enjoy as well.

_Flashback - Five years earlier_

_James Potter was excited. It was his very first official breakfast at Hogwarts and he had seen his very own owl, Blotch, flying toward him with a package that could have only come from his mum. After he had gotten through the packaging and had managed to discover what treat his mother had decided to deliver to him on his first day at school and away from his parents for the first time. _

_He quickly lifted the lid off of the container and found the tin filled with little fruit tarts. He was pleased immensely. But before he could reach down and taste one a small voice murmur something to his right that made him turn to see who it was. _

_What had made the noise was a small rotund boy with light blond hair and watery blue eyes. The boy shyly ducked his head and whispered, "Those look really good. Er, would you mind terribly if I tried one?" _

_"Sure, help yourself." James answered._

_"Whoa! You mean you actually got something from your mother? I've never gotten anything from my mother, not if she could help it anyway." said a boy that sat a few seats down from James._

_James couldn't comprehend not getting something from his mother, especially his mother; the thought alone was just absurd! But he felt sorry for the unknown boy and invited him to try some too._

_"I'm Sirius. Sirius Black." the boy said as he slid down the table. "I don't think I introduced myself last night. _

_"Peter Pettigrew," _

_"I am James Potter. Nice to meet… Hey! You guys ate all my mum's tarts!" James said heatedly. "You two better start running before I catch up with you, because then you'll find out how tough I can get if you push me too far!" _

_Both boys responsible looked at each other, then at James and then they both finally turned tail and ran out of the hall with James right on their heals. _

_End Flashback_

James chortled at the memory, just as he was reliving the moment of just exactly how he'd had gotten his revenge, he was interrupted by Sirius who was pestering him to know what was so funny, so he obliged quickly.

"You are what's funny. I was just thinking about when we first formally introduced ourselves. Do you remember?"

"Hmm… the day where Peter and I ate all of whatever it was in the parcel that came from your mum all those years ago?"

"Yes, and how you guys fled faster than Snivellus confronted with a large bottle of shampoo." he grinned widely, but then dissolved into laughter as he locked eyes with Sirius.

Sirius laughed the louder and the longer, also remembering all those years ago and James getting his revenge in the end.

"Where to first Moony?" Sirius asked after he had calmed down enough to stop laughing.

"Really Sirius," Remus muttered, shaking his head in dismay "What James was reminding you of wasn't nearly that funny to being with, and now years later you still think it's funny?"

"Yes," Sirius said defensively. "I think it's still funny after all this time. You're just jealous of my sense of humour."

"Okay Sirius. Fine. Pretend I didn't say anything."

"Good, because we have to go to class," James intervened before Sirius could say anything else. "Last one to McGonagall's office is a rotten Dragon's egg!"

That got Sirius's attention. It didn't take long for the words to sink in and do their job. Together the boys marched purposely to the entrance hall and then from that point on they made a mad dash to the Transfiguration classroom.

* * *

After gleaming more and more information Lily had confirmed her suspicions. She was right and she would confront Remus and hear it from him, just to made sure.

_'He was a werewolf!'_

She couldn't grasp that concept! All these years, and yet no one was non-the-wiser, only she and his friends were the exception, of course.

_Werewolf. Werewolf. Werewolf. Werewolf. Werewolf._

The word reverberated around his head over and over again until she thought she was surely going to go mad.

She decided that at the very first opportunity she would speak to him and ask him then and there. Whether he was ready or otherwise.

After a undetermined time; she shook herself out of the shock and declared to herself that no matter what was said she would look at the circumstances with a clear head and not judge at all.

So with that in mind she silently picked up her school books and crammed them into her satchel and heaved it onto her shoulder and left the library with a broad smile across her face.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

All through the day during lessons, Lily was preparing herself for the inevitable conversation with Remus. During breakfast she noticed again how tired _all _of the boys looked.

That lit up her curiosity. Why would _they_ be tired if only Remus was a werewolf? No human could ever be around a werewolf because of the risk of either being turned or killed.

She wanted to ask so badly that she almost left her seat to ask, but then she remembered the last time she asked them something, and look how well that went.

Since she couldn't, or rather, didn't want to ask what the other boys could be doing she settled on doing a bit more digging before brought up that subject with them.

Lily couldn't comprehend how she had never seen the signs before now. It was so plainly obvious that it shocked her that she had never noticed before. '_Maybe it's because of the fact that you never thought in your wildest dreams that you would ever come face to face with a werewolf.' _said that same annoying sarcastic voice in her head.

She never did think that she would ever come across, what was considered by many, a dark and dangerous creature.

Before long though, she was pulled from her thoughts roughly when a sharp pain ran through her toes and into her legs thanks to Tory stomping firmly on her foot.

After uttering a muted exclamation of pain she glared hard at Tory and questioned with her eyes, but before her friend could reply, Professor Flitwick spoke up in his small squeaky voice chide softly, "Now, now Miss Evans. Please pay more attention. A little more working and a little less thinking."

Lily felt her face burn and she imagined that she probably looked like a radish with a horrible sunburn. But before anything else could be done the bell tolled, signaling the end of another school day. She was relieved that she could get away from her mortification quickly.

Speedily she grabbed her school bag and slung it on her shoulder and almost ran out of the classroom. Just as she was about to exit the room a voice called over the clamor of people as they collected their things, but the voice did not calm her, it only made her more eager to leave the castle behind.

Quickening her steps she plunged herself deeper into the flood of students trying to get away from the voice that had called to her.

Instead of going up to the dormitory to put her bag away she resolved to walk the grounds and maybe sit in the courtyard for a change.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

After she had found a nice quiet spot to think she was joined noisily by her best friends, that didn't look very friendly at the present moment.

"What was that for?" yelled Tory, loud enough to startled a couple of birds out of a nearby tree.

"What may I ask, are you talking about?" Lily questioned back.

"Oh. Hmm. Let me think. Maybe the fact that you didn't wait for us to follow you so we had to guess and luckily found you sooner than we anticipated." Tory said sourly.

After she apologized to her friends, they fell into easy conversations and they stayed like that as the afternoon slipped into the evening.

Just as they were about to enter the castle walls Lily saw something that left her stomach in knots and made her feel breathless.

James Potter and his crew were walking in their direction laughing and joking around. If Lily didn't do something fast she would be spotted and that wasn't something that she wanted to happen.

She wanted to talk to Remus but she was trying avoid James, so quickly she made up a plan. She then told her friends that she would see them at dinner and rushed into the entrance hall and dashed to a partially hidden alcove in the wall to wait.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

As she stood in the alcove, she heard many people emerge from the different directions and saw from where she was secreted that they were heading off to dinner in the great hall.

Just as she was about to give up trying to get Remus alone she heard them approach her hiding spot. In the alcove where she was positioned she overheard Remus say to his friends to go on ahead, he would be back down after he put his things back in their dormitory.

By the time Lily deemed it safe to leave the confines of the niche in the wall Remus was already half way up the marble staircase. So she quickly ran up the stairs to catch up to him.

"Hey there, Remus," Lily said breathlessly from running up the large staircase.

"Hello Lily. This is a pleasant surprise." he said smiling softly.

"Could I talk to you for a moment?" she asked hesitantly.

"Sure." he said turning to her.

"Why don't we talk in here," Lily said opening a door to an unused classroom on the first floor. She then gestured for him to enter first.

Looking confused Remus promptly moved into the room. Lily follow, and after closing the door behind her she quickly cast the Imperturbable Charm to avoid eavesdroppers.

"Lily? What is this about?" Remus said confused now more than ever.

"I just wanted to make sure we wouldn't be overheard." she then turned toward Remus and continued, "The reason I wanted to talk to you is because of a suspicion I have. It's not any easy thing to say so I'll just say it. Remus. Am I right to assume that you are a werewolf?"

Remus's face slowly drained of all color and his hands automatically balled into fists. He then cleared his throat and tugged on his tie until it came undone and then he slowly locked eyes with Lily.

But before he could say anything Lily quickly added," And Remus I don't care what you are or your what you say. I just know that you are one of the only guys in this school that I can stand to be around. So say what you will, but I won't be changing my opinion of you just because I found out what you are."

After she finished her statement she saw his widen comically and his jaw actually dropped open in complete shock.

He opened and closed his mouth several times before he could articulate a string of words. But when he was able to speak he was still in shock.

"H - how did you find out?" he said in amazement.

"Last night when you went to visits your "mother", I noticed that it was a full moon and that got me thinking of little tiny clues that helped me come to the conclusion that something wasn't adding up with you and your group. And after some research I deducted that the only thing that made the most sense was that you were a werewolf." she said confidentially.

"Oh," he said as he let out a breath of air. "Well, if you don't want to talk to me anymore I more than understand, so I'll just leave now."

"Where do you think your going? Didn't I just say that I wasn't about to abandon you? Are you implying that I don't keep my promises?" she said pulling her wand out threateningly.

"No!" He said hastily as he tried backtracking. "I'm not saying that! I only said that because that's what I usually have to do when someone finds out. That's all. Honest!"

Lily look at him shrewdly and then after seeing the sincerity of his words she slowly placed her wand back into her pocket and said, "I don't know about you but I'm starved. If it wouldn't be too much. Could we maybe talk more about this after dinner? Maybe we can study together in the library and talk more in depth about it?"

"Now that you mention it, I am rather hungry. How about we continue to make our way to the common room and put our things away. And then after dinner we can talk." he replied.

"I think that is a fabulous idea." she said as a huge smile spread across her face.

* * *

"Are you serious? And Sirius if you crack that joke one more time I will levitate you and drop you in the freezing lake," said James to a very put-out Sirius. "But did you just say that Lily figured out your furry little problem?"

"Yes, that's why I was so late for dinner," Remus replied.

The Marauders were sitting in a secluded corner in the common room where Remus finished telling his friends what had transpired earlier with Lily.

"Do you by chance know _why _she's been ignoring and avoiding me?" James said with an air of nonchalance in which this case he didn't succeed.

"I don't know, but maybe I'll be able to gleam something for you, but for right now I think she's expecting me to join her in the library actually. I told her that we could talk more about my… condition. So I'll see you guys later." said Remus as he trouped toward the stairs. After he retrieved his bag he then left the common room with a look of trepidation on his face.

James watched him go and wishing it was _him_ that was on good terms with Lily. Since Lily had given up being friends with him his moods were usually gloomy to say the least. Today was the first day in weeks that he'd actually smiled and it was a pleasant surprise to have found himself laughing with his friends again.

He stood up and stretched his limbs. He needed to get out, so looking down at his watch, he found out that it was still early enough to take a few laps around the Quidditch field without the annoyance of getting a detention.

Looking over at his other two friends he proposed his plan and they readily agreed to go with him. He knew that Peter was not likely to go flying with him, for the drawback of being afraid of heights usually put a damper on that, but then he also knew for a certainty that Sirius would join him in to air.

After retrieving their coats and brooms they headed out onto the grounds and ran to the Quidditch field, wanting to get there as fast as possible. When the three friends got to the stands; Peter straight away left them, preferring to watch instead of participating.

Both James and Sirius made it onto the field and kicked off the ground together and rose full tilt into air, not wanting to waste any time.

James felt the rushing wind thoroughly exhilarating. For the first time in a long while he was truly happy. Nothing could damper his mood, not even Lily could distract him from his ignorant bliss. The only thing that existed was him, his broom and the rapid darkening sky.

James spent the next a few hours doing reckless dives and racing Sirius around the field and beating him seven out of ten times. After Peter complained about how chilly the night was getting they decided to call it a night.

* * *

Lily had been sitting at her usual studying table in the library writing her essays while she waited for Remus to come, and she had been sitting here since 6:30pm and it was now 7:20pm.

_'Well, it's not like you've set a time or anything, don't be so impatience, you're acting like a two year-old.'_ said a voice that sounded very similar to Petunia's.

"Have you been here long?" said a quiet voice behind Lily that made her jump.

"Yes, but it's no problem. I've just been polishing up my essays that need to be turned in." Lily replied as Remus slid into the seat across from her.

"let me organize my things, so that it will at least _look _like we're doing work." he said as he proceeded to get his school books, some quills and a bottle of ink out of his school satchel.

"So, you wanted to know some… erm… stuff." Remus murmured quietly, obviously not wanting to be overheard.

"Yes," Lily said sitting up straighter in her seat and then continued, "Er… so you've been a werewolf since you were how old?"

"I was bitten when I was seven or eight years-old." Remus paused. "Are you sure you want to hear my story? I don't remember some parts of it and it, as you know, didn't end well."

"Yes! That is, if you don't mind sharing it with me. If it's too painful then please ignore my curiosity. It sometimes gets me into more trouble than its worth." she said with a shy smile.

"If you don't mind then I'll tell you."

Lily saw that he had clenched his hands into fists again and she wondered if she should have just said no when she had the chance. But before she could say no he started his odious tale.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

When he was finished Lily just shook her head in disbelief and wiped the last of her tears away. She couldn't think clearly, but then after a moment she had gathered enough feeling in her body to be able to speak.

"I'm just fine Remus. Just give me a moment to compose myself." she answered honestly.

After a undetermined time she was completely fine and was able to start collecting her things and putting them back into her bag. Just as they were about to get up and leave the librarian Madame Pince came barreling through and shooed them to the exit saying that she was locking up for the night and that they should have left five minutes ago.

They walked in silence up to the Gryffindor common room and found it still occupied with many students who were either messing around or more diligent ones trying to finish the homework they were set.

After saying a farewell to Remus, Lily walked steadily to the dormitory and when she reached her bed she collapsed onto and looked at the top of her four-poster thinking.

Remus had given her a lot of information that not many people could claim to have. It was revolting to think of what happened to him when he was only about seven years-old. She thought about what she was like at seven years-old.

It didn't seem fair that an innocent child like Remus must have been had to go through so much pain and devastation when he was so young.

Although it was only a little after eight, she felt emotionally drained after hearing Remus's depressing story. She changed into her nightgown and laid down in her bed and immediately fell asleep even before her head hit her pillow in exhaustion.

Whew wipes brow I spent all day writing this chapter for you who are reading my story! Okay so here's the deal, I didn't want to change the rating on this story so I took out the Remus being bit part and have made it a one-shot. So if you don't mind mild violence you can check that story out after reading this chapter!

Please review! bkwrmgrl87


	9. Intervention

Chapter 9: Intervention

October 1976

* * *

The next day was the start of the weekend and Lily enjoyed getting to have an easy morning and getting to stay in bed longer that she usually did during the week.

As she snuggled deeper under her blankets she thought over the things she had found out about Remus. It was a shock for her to learn that he had been a werewolf for all of the time she had known him.

But after finding out what he was Lily now understood why James had refused to tell her what the boys had been doing during the full moons.

She now perceived that it was James's loyalty to his friend that had prevented him from telling her. Lily remembered vaguely that he had said something like that to her, but it was known that when her anger flared, she was likely to blow things way out of proportion.

Lily shook her head in despair. Why was it always too late that she figured things out like this? Her stubbornness and blazing anger would rear its ugly head and completely take over her rational thought pattern that would inevitably get her in to trouble.

She knew that an apology was overdue, but she couldn't pluck up enough courage to do it.

But before her thoughts could go any farther she suddenly became aware of a person staring her in the face.

Tory's face was inches from her own and she saw a wicked gleam shining in her eyes that made Lily feel nervous.

"Hello Lily," she said.

"Good morning Tory. Do you need anything?" Lily asked cautiously.

"No, I'm fine."

But before Lily could react a sudden light blinded her and it took a moment too late to realize that it was a flash of a camera and the tell-tell signs of a magical camera by the blue-ish smoke that filled the room.

Rubbing her eyes roughly, Lily shrieked helplessly, "What was that for?"

Before Lily could catch her mischievous friend, Tory had jumped off of her bed and fled the room and then darted through the door and into the rooms beyond.

Quickly pulling on her dressing gown, Lily rushed down the dormitory stairs, trying to catch up with Tory.

As she came through the common room many people were awake and stared in amazement at her as she shot past them and out of the portrait hole.

It had yet to occur to Lily that she was barefoot, running through the halls of Hogwarts in her bathrobe no less, but the only thing that was present in her mind was to get the camera from Tory before her friend could give it to someone to develop the film.

Even though Tory had gotten a head start Lily was pleased to see that she was only a short distance behind the brunette haired girl.

Just as Lily was about to tackle the troublesome object from her friend, to her surprise, Tory disappeared from sight with a startled yelp.

"Tory? Tory, where did you go?" Lily asked desperately as she turned around in circles looking for her friend.

Before she began hyperventilate, Lily heard a voice speak to her coming from behind.

As she whipped her head around she saw Sirius step out from behind a tapestry with Tory in toe.

"Nice costume Lily, you should wear it more often," he teased lightly.

It was at this moment that Lily looked down and saw to her mortification that she had forgotten to get dressed and hadn't even thought to put on a pair of slippers in her haste to get to Tory. When she became aware of this fact, her face turned a brilliant shade of crimson that even surpassed her auburn hair in brightness.

As Lily's face slowly returned to its normal colouring, she thrust her hand out and demanded, "Okay Tory, give it up. I want that camera so that I can confiscate it. Not to mention I would have gotten it from you if it hadn't been for him," she said glaring at Sirius, but he only laughed. "It was just luck that he had been there to hide you."

But Tory only shook her head and said, "Sorry Lily, but I don't have it."

"What? What do you mean you don't have it?" asked Lily.

"I already gave it to Remus so that it can be developed." said Tory, not sounding sorry at all.

"No! Tory, how could you? Why did you take a picture of me anyway?"

"I wanted a reminder of when Lily Evans was actually the last one to get out of bed," explained Tory cheekily.

Then they heard a voice from behind them that said, "Oh Sirius, do you know where…"

The trio whisked around to see who spoke and to Lily's humiliation, it was James.

James seemed to be momentarily speechless as his gaze traveled over Lily's choice of dress.

"Umm… I think I'll just, yeah," said Lily as she quickly made her way back up to her dormitory to change in to day attire.

As she made it around a corner she heard James question, "What was Lily doing in her dressing gown?"

Before she could hear the response she quickened her stride and then preceded to run at a jog, wanting to get to the seventh floor before more people became aware of her informal state of dress.

* * *

It was proposed that intervention was needed if there should ever arise a situation that if it could not be handled in a timely fashion, that something was to be done.

That was why Nicole and Remus were once again assembled in the Library for another meeting about Lily and James.

"So do you know why Lily hasn't apologized to James yet?" asked Remus.

"No, she hasn't told me anything, but I have noticed that whenever there is a chance for them to meet she is always running away or making an excuse to leave before he sees her." Nicole divulged.

"I have noticed that too," added Remus. "James, however, is wanting to talk to her but never gets the opportunity, Lily's doing of course. What should the course of action be? I haven't the foggiest."

"Well, I have been thinking that maybe if someone would just talk with Lily, she might consider talking things over with James and giving him another chance. What do you think?" inquired Nicole.

"I think that's an excellent idea. Do you think that it should be just you and your friends, or do think that if my friends and I talk to her as well that things might work out better?"

"That sounds good. I think I'll go talk to the girls and get their input. I'm sure Tory will have plenty to say on the matter." said Nicole as she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, and I'll talk with my friends and we can meet up here to map out the particulars. Alright?" he said grinning broadly, hoping that if things worked out, that maybe James would start being happy again.

"I like the way you think, Remus Lupin," Nicole said standing up and giving him a widespread smile.

"I could say the same about you,Nicole Martin," said Remus as he started walking to the exit with Nicole at his side, and as they reached the open doors their hands imperceptibly brushed against the other's…

* * *

James had been miserable for the past few weeks when Lily had been refusing to speak with him. He could tell that she had been avoiding him at all costs.

He had to do something to make her be able to stand having him in the same room as her. But how to do that he did not know.

James decided that he needed a well-deserved break from the stress of schoolwork and his Lily problem. So he went and grabbed his broomstick and started for the Quidditch pitch.

When he got there he immediately kicked off the ground hard and accelerated fast into the waiting sky. The air rushed in his hair that tangled it into a styled-like mess, just the way he liked it.

After flying around for a few more minutes, James thought back to what he had seen earlier that morning, and the image made him smile.

When he first caught site of Lily in her wrap he was very shocked, but when she turned to him in all her glory, his heart had stuttered to a stop and restarted in a lively tattoo against his ribcage.

She was so beautiful even in the simplest of garb, but the look of pure shock made him laugh out loud, but then he remembered why he hadn't been laughing as of late, and his chuckles promptly stopped.

He couldn't stop thinking of her and it was starting to drive him over the edge. But what to do for it he did not know.

Instead of thinking over possibilities forever James decided that for the present moment he would just leave his troubles on the ground and just enjoy the freedom of flying. He then concentrated on going into steep dives and pulled back only at the last possible moment so that he did not go head first onto the field.

He had been flying for a few hours until his stomach reminded him that it was lunchtime, so as he landed he just noticed that his three friends had been sitting in the stands and had been watching him for a while.

After putting his broom away he made his way over to his friends.

"How long have you been out here?" asked James.

"Oh, nearly three hours, but what we would like to know is how long _you've_ been here." said Remus glancing down at his watch expectantly.

"I'm not sure," James replied with a shrug.

After walking in silence for a few minutes Peter spoke up, "What were you thinking of up there Prongs?"

"Oh nothing terribly exciting, mostly just working on my Quidditch skills. So why did you guys come to find me?" inquired James.

"We just wondered where you had wandered off to, is all." answered Sirius. "Hey last one to the table gets a prank played on them by the other three." challenged Sirius, and with that the four Gryffindors raced across the grounds and into the castle, headed for the great hall for lunch.

* * *

Lily had just barely pulled out her schoolbooks when they were roughly taken from her hands and she stared at her bare hands for a moment before she looked into the determined face of Kathleen.

"Kathleen, what are you doing with my books? Please give them back, I want to study," said Lily sternly as she creased up her eyebrows.

"No studying right now Lily, we need to talk." Kathleen pressed.

"Really girls, we don't have all the time in the world to work on our assignments, so saying that, I would like my things back." Lily said persistently.

"Not until _after_ we've talked with you," pushed Tory, looking serious for once.

"What is this all about," said Lily in a defeated voice when she realized they weren't giving up. Lily wouldn't put it passed them to just start pulling her out of her seat anyway.

After standing from a table in the common room the girls quietly made it up to their dormitory that was thankfully vacant of any occupants.

When they where properly situated on Nicole's bed Lily was first to break the stillness of the room, "What is this all about?" said Lily crossly. "So much so that you had to pull me away from my work."

Nicole was the first one to answer Lily's question. But she looked apprehensively in Kathleen's direction before speaking.

"It's about James," she answered and ignored Lily when she folding her arms across her chest and heaved a great sigh. "We all really think you need to say sorry to James, and we also think that you might have been a little out of line that last time you spoke with him. We didn't want to say anything, but it's been nearly a month Lily. Don't you think this is long enough of your avoiding James game?"

"Of course I know that I should make amends with James, but I just don't know how to face him. That's all that's preventing me from going up to him." Lily said softly as her arms dropped back down to her sides.

"So you do think that you _were _out of line?" asked Kathleen.

"Yes," she responded. "That's all I've been able to think about since - well - you know. It's just that every time I get up to go and talk with James I loose my nerve and run away again." Lily admitted with reluctance.

"Well that's a step in the right direction." Tory piped up.

"You know Lily, James isn't that bad if only you would give him a real chance. Just test the waters a bit." said Nicole truthfully.

"I know," retorted Lily. "But I don't think that even if I did give him a chance to talk to me that he would want to give _me _a chance. What I asked of him was just horrible. I don't know why I kept digging when he had given me more than enough valid reasons. It was inexcusable of me." she finished dejectedly.

"Well, I heard from a very reliable source that a certain black-haired, brown-eyed someone has been trying for weeks to get you alone to talk with you, but I think that you have been doing a lot in order for that not to happen. Do you know anything about that?" said Nicole smugly.

Lily didn't speak; she just blushed a deep red and focused her vision on her wringing hands in her lap. Someone grasped her hands in theirs and another took her chin and raised her head up so that Lily was looking into Nicole's eyes.

Lily noticed that it was Kathleen that had grabbed her hands and gave them a light squeeze. She also noticed that Tory's own hands where slowly being lowered so that Lily assumed that it must have been her that had lifted up her chin.

"You know, it's okay to be scared." Nicole said sincerely as Lily looked in her direction. Lily shook her head in defiance, but her closest friends knew that it affected Lily more than she would like to admit.

"I think I'll just go and finish my homework out by the lake. I want to be alone for a while too. Okay?" Lily asked.

It took a minute for Lily to register that Tory had pulled her into a big hug and then it wasn't too long before the rest of her friends joined in and they stayed like that until Lily drew away from them and made her way back down stairs.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

Lily had just settled down under the beech tree by the lake, heavily bundled up in her winter coat, when she noticed that James's friends trekking their way over to her. She breathed out a big sign and thought,_ 'Am I ever going to get any work done?'_

"Hello there Lily," said Peter politely.

"How are you guys doing?" she asked as she put her things down at her feet, knowing that they wouldn't leave until they got their say as well.

"We -" but Lily interrupted Sirius.

" Just wanted to talk to me. Right?" finished Lily. It was a statement not a question.

"Yes," answered Remus.

"Well here I am, Fire away." Lily said moodily.

"I was wondering if you might consider talking with James sometime this week." mused Remus.

"I - was thinking something like that," hedged Lily.

"It's because he hasn't been the same since you talked to him the last time." said Sirius.

"Oh," breathed Lily. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, he's been really depressed lately," added Peter.

"Really? I had no idea. So you just want me to talk with him. Is that all?" asked Lily.

"Yes. And if it wouldn't be too much to ask, but would you might cogitate over the idea of trying to be friends with him again? For all the time I've come to know James, I think that's the only time I've ever seen James the happiest." Sirius said to Lily.

Lily opened her mouth to speak but Sirius mutely put his hand over her mouth and said, "You don't have to answer now. I just want you to think it over and talk to James about it. We're his friends and just want the best for him, so if you could think about it we would really appreciate it. Thanks."

Before Lily could say anything the boys quickly got up from where they had sat next to her and marched their way back up to the castle and out of her line of sight.

After they had entered the castle Lily started to mull things over in her mind. Thinking over what her and James's friends had told her, she was surprised that her heart didn't feel so heavy after hearing that James might have forgiven her for what she had said and done.

But after pondering over all she had heard for the next half hour she reluctantly pulled her bag from next to her feet and started to pull out a quill and some parchment as she tried to focus her attention back onto a more academic minded subject.

* * *

After a nice long shower James toweled off and changed into his night clothes. He then settled into bed and took off his glasses and set them onto his bedside table, but before he could drift off to sleep he heard his friends stumble into the room.

As Peter was making his way up the stairs he tripped and then fell into Sirius's back, thus making Sirius loose his balance and then that made him bump into Remus, who then lurched forward into the room and then, to James's amusement, caused the trio to collapse into a pile in the middle of the floor.

"Geeze Peter, can you be anymore clumsy?" asked Sirius sarcastically.

"Ss - sorry," Peter mumbled as he headed for the dormitory lavatory.

"Are you going to bed already Prongs?" asked Remus. "It's just after 9:30. he added.

"Yeah, I'm tired," said James through a yawn.

He then heard his friends start rummaging through their things, obviously getting ready for bed as well. And as he heard the squeak of Sirius's mattress his thoughts turned to Lily once more before the darkness claimed him and he fell into a deep slumber.


	10. Uncertainties

Chapter 10: Uncertainties

October 1976

It was going to be almost a month since James had last spoken with Lily but it was beginning to feel more like two. Not that he ever really gotten a chance to talk with her before then, but it was just that they had started to become closer, and James even thought that she was actually enjoying his company somewhat. Wishful thinking on his part.

James let out a breath and tried to let the negative thoughts flow out of him and disintegrate into the air swirling around him. He was sitting in a far corner of the Hogwarts grounds as he attempted to collect his thoughts; so that what he was about to do would go the way he hoped it would.

Sighing heavily, James stood up and traipsed back to the Gryffindor tower. After he gave the Fat Lady the password and before he climbed in he took in a deep breath and summoned up as much courage as he could.

He looked around the common room and spotted whom he was most anxious to speak with.

Lily was sitting with her friends and laughing over something that someone had said and she looked very relaxed as she steadily worked through her homework.

It was Sunday and the sky outside was covered by heavy gray clouds, so the students had holed themselves in the common room together, some working on homework or playing games and just enjoying the freedom to choose what they would.

But James couldn't keep his eyes from traveling back to the girl that had stolen his heart without making any conscious effort to do so. Lily had settled back down and was turning back to the work set before her but then seemed to know that she was being watched and looked up and stared straight into his eyes.

Her eyes seemed to flicker through a wide range of emotions that James could hardly understand.

_Weariness… fear… resignation… and apprehension?_

But James didn't stare at her for long. He didn't want her to make an excuse to leave for the closest exit, the girls' dormitory, where he knew that he had no hope of getting to.

So as quickly as he could without actually running, James appeared before her and asked hastily, "Hey Lily, could you come with me for a moment?"

Lily's eyes flashed briefly over to Nicole and Kathleen, who were grinning at each other, and then looked back a James before she silently nodded her head.

Tory wasn't studying with them, but James had the sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with what Sirius had said about him being "too busy" to study with Remus in the Library and begging off James's invite to take a quick fly earlier in the day.

James was shook out of his musings when Lily said in a exasperated tone, "Are we going to talk or not?"

"Yes, but could we do it in a quieter place?" he ask uncertainly.

Ignoring the giggles that came from the table that Lily had just left, James led the way out of the common room and into an unused classroom to talk.

* * *

Lily was tense as the stillness drew longer by the minute, but she couldn't stop the restless movements that ran through her body.

"So… " said James, breaking the pregnant pause as they both fidgeted nervously.

"Er… James… I owe you an apology." said Lily in a small voice, that sounded nothing like her own. "What I had asked of you was unfair and quite rude to the extreme. I would completely understand if you never talk to me again, for I know that its what I rightfully deserve."

James didn't say anything but after another minute or two he started to speak, "I accept. But I didn't pull you in here to get an apology because I forgave you a long time ago. No, the reason I wanted to talk to you was because I wanted to ask you something."

Lily was shocked that he would forgive her so willingly but she stiffened when he mentioned requesting something of her.

"I was wondering if you really meant that you didn't want to try being friends anymore. Did you mean it or was it just the heat of the moment?"

Lily blew out a breath of relief and said, "No I didn't mean it. Sometimes when I get mad my mouth gets carried away and has the misfortune of blurting out things I don't mean exactly as they come out."

James looked comforted and said, "So what I really wanted to ask is, could we have a go at being friends again?"

Lily thought over the talks that she had had in the last few days and had to agree that James wasn't as bad as he tried to be in front of an audience. It was also her fault last time, not his, that they stopped being friends. She thought it over for another minute before replying, "I think we could try it again."

James laughed and the relief was obvious in his stance and posture as he visibly relaxed against the wall.

He stood up and walked over to Lily and stuck out his hand.

"Friends?" he asked.

"Friends." Lily confirmed as she gladly shook his hands and noticed, though she tried not to, that James had a firm but gentle grip.

Lily grinned and quickly took her hand back and said, "Well I don't know about you, but I have to go back to my studies. Bye."

But before she could leave the room James said, "I'll accompany you back to the Gryffindor common room, if that's okay with you."

Lily nodded in agreement and then her heart gave a lurch as she noted that his eyes were burning with some unknown emotion, but she couldn't be sure of what it was because before she could get a good look at them he took her arm in his and together they walked out of the classroom in silence.

* * *

After Lily once again agreed to be friends with James everything seemed to fall into place. It was a heaven on earth for James. He noted that Lily was still more formal than what James wished, but it was pleasant just the same.

Although the school was large and covered a lot of floors, James would try and accompany Lily to all of her classes without being late for his own. If it so happened that they attended the same class, which was quite common, then he and whoever was with him, would sit as close to Lily as they could get.

James recalled back to when Lily had shaken his hand. He thought back to how small and slender her hand was compared to his. The perfect fit. As much as he hated sounding cliché or sentimental, he felt that they just seemed to fit together perfectly, like two pieces of the same puzzle.

James was shook out of his ponderings when he heard Professor Slughorn dismiss them from his class. He quickly approached Lily and said a swift hello. He was pleased to take note of the fact that Lily's smile appeared to have widened when he walked over to her.

Before he could offer to take her satchel for her; she lifted it up and put it on her shoulder and walked to the door as everyone queued through the exit. So instead, he followed her and left the dungeons with his friends.

They quickly caught up with the girls and both groups ascended together to the common room to work on their homework before the weekend.

During their studies, Kathleen announced that she was cold and would be moving nearer to the fireplace to stay warm. James noticed that as she sat down Jonathan Kirk had walked over to her as she set out her school things, and as James continued to watch he saw that when Kathleen caught Jonathan looking at her she blushed pink.

When Kathleen had completely moved away from the table Tory wasted no time in insisting that Sirius join her at the girls' table to study, so it wasn't long after that things had started settling down again and they studied undisturbed.

James believed that Sirius was enjoying the attention that Tory was lathering on him a little too much, for he noted that they didn't seem to have accomplished very much work for the amount of they had put in.

As the night wore on the room slowly emptied of students and the 6th years were the only ones left in the common room.

Peter was the first to say good night to his friends but he was quickly followed by Sirius; Kathleen left not long after. Although Tory wished that she too could leave; it was not to be so, for she had yet to finish a charms essay that was due soon, so she stayed downstairs until 10:30 and then she left for bed.

Since there were only four people left in the common room, James and Remus decided to join Lily and Nicole at their table to tie off their last assignment for Professor Conner.

The four friends spent the rest of the time studying in companionable silence. As the fire started to dim lower in the fireplace James had just polished off the conclusion of his essay when he saw the most exquisite sight his eyes had ever beheld.

He observed that Lily's hair seemed to shimmer in the light of the fireplace and was in awe at the view before him. Lily's dark auburn hair was lightened and the effect was radiant, the fire illuminated the red in her hair and it made a red halo around her head that sparkled brightly.

But his scrutiny was interrupted when Remus yawned widely and said, "Are you coming up James? I can hardly keep my eyes open."

"Yes, I'm right behind you," he answered.

James picked up his bag and said a gentle good night and gave Lily a friendly pat on the shoulder as he passed and then followed his friend.

* * *

Lily was getting used to the idea of James becoming a friend. It wasn't hard to imagine when he behaved and didn't act like a fool. Her friends were great company, and luckily things didn't change much when James and his friends were around.

At times it got tiring to have Tory and Sirius always all over each other, but then again, it was lucky that they never showed any outward affection other flirting.

She knew that if they did start a relationship it wouldn't last more than a few months. They worked together so well because they were kindred spirits, both easily entertained, but then again they both got restless with long-term relationships and preferred having several flings.

Lily knew that things would turn out alright whether Sirius and Tory dated or not and it would be funny to see who would be the first to call it quits, although, it wouldn't be very fun if either one of them got hurt emotionally, but from what Lily had observed, that didn't seem too likely.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

Lily noticed that as the days progressed James was less prone to show off and more likely to chat about things that didn't have anything to do with Quidditch or being an annoyance. She was beginning to understand why Nicole had told her to give James a chance.

Lily and her friends had been sitting at the Gryffindor table enjoying their breakfast when the boys came in and sat down next to them. Remus was the only one who looked remotely awake and the others barely were able to speak through their yawns.

She greeted the boys good morning and surveyed them as they piled a huge amount of food onto their plates. But her stares were interrupted when the owls flew gracefully into the great hall and dropped off the mail to their owners.

She watched as a white owl that had a large black spot on its head that seemed to be flying in her direction and it had a letter tied to its leg. Lily was surprised to see that it landed in front of James and stuck out its leg obediently.

"I didn't know that you had an owl, James," said Lily as she watched the owl start pecking at his plate of rashers greedily.

"Yes, his name is Blotch." answered James as he gazed at his owl as Blotch flew back out of the hall and presumably up to the Owlery.

"Wow James, he's such a beautiful owl." said Lily she watched longingly at the departing owl. "When did you get him?"

"Oh, I got him on the trip to Diagon Alley before my first year of Hogwarts." he answered.

"I've never seen him before. Where have you been keeping him all this time?" Lily asked confused, for she had never noticed James with an owl before.

"I never bring him on the train, my mum; well she usually finds something to send me the day after I get here, and for the rest of the year Blotch stays up in the Owlery during the day when I don't need him to send a letter for me."

"That's nice." said Lily as she gave James a kind smile. It was refreshing to hear the respecting tone that she heard in James's voice as he spoke of his mother. "It must be lovely for you when your mother sends you something from home."

"Yeah, well, mum will be mum." he said offhandedly, but Lily noticed that his ears turned a delicate shade of pink and she had a sneaking suspicion that he liked it a lot more than he was letting on.

But Lily didn't pursue the subject any longer; instead she opted to polish off her pile of rashers and a couple of slices of toast and talked with her friends through the rest of the morning meal until her first class of the day started.

* * *

It was just barely a week to the day that Lily agreed to start a friendship with James and he was so happy to have Lily counted as a friend, but that didn't mean that he forgot his friend now that he had a chance with Lily.

Now that Lily could stand being around James more, things went a lot smoother, plus Sirius and Tory got to spend more time together and James was happy for them.

It was the weekend and James decided that he would go and visit Blotch in the Owlery on the beautiful, but windy day.

The Owlery was quiet as James walked in and spotted Blotch up on a high perch, he called for him and Blotch flew down and landed lightly on a lower perch as James sat down on the dropping strewn floor. James talked to Blotch about Lily's renewed promise to be friends and the happiness at this new development, and when James asked if Blotch thought that things were looking better for his probability for a chance with Lily. His owl then pecked him hard on the head and gave him a look that he could easily translate into _and it's taken you this long to find this out?_

After his stomach complained loudly at his neglect, James stood and told Blotch he would see him later, and after the owl hooted serenely he then dusted off the back of his robes and walked to the great hall in high spirits.

When he reached the bottom steps of the marble staircase, James saw his friends halfway through the doors of the great hall and when he registered that it was indeed them, he yelled to them and they turned around quickly with their wands drawn.

"Whoa, it's only me. What's with the wands? Do you think that you'll be attacked in school?" James asked surprised.

"Didn't you read the Daily Prophet this morning, James?" asked Remus looking alarmed.

"No," What could have happened to make his friends so on edge? "Should I have?"

"It's the latest news, everyone's talking about it." Peter added with a knowing nod.

"Yeah, it's all over the school and that was the only topic going on in the common room just now." Sirius put in quietly.

"Will someone just _tell _me already? It's getting annoying that you guys keep banging on about _this… this thing_, but you won't mention exactly what the big news is!" said James, finally loosing his patience.

"Well, Death Eaters attacked a village near Hogsmeade and ransacked the whole place and left it in shambles. It's been really big news and there were people found being tortured and some even murdered in the village." said Remus. After he relayed the news he shook his head dejectedly.

"Oh no, that's horrible. I didn't have the slightest idea. Did any Aurors get hurt when they reported to the place?"

"Yes and a few died as well, but thankfully there weren't a lot of Death Eaters, so that many were just taken to Hospital." Remus answered again.

"Wow, I mean, I know there is a war happening and all, but I just never realized what that meant exactly, but you say that it happened close to here?"

"Yes, and as such, we will begin taking precautions that are yet to be put to action." said a voice from behind the boys. The four twisted around again and found them being closely examined by the Headmaster.

"Let us not be discouraged because of the grave news. I shall be announcing the changes that we shall be making tonight before our dinner, so let us enjoy this meal and remember to stay united in all trials set before us." finished Dumbledore, and he swept gracefully past the stunned group and into the great hall and seated himself at the center of the staff table to have his mid-day meal.

Sirius shook his head dog-like, having had enough practice, and that broke the melancholy mood and the friends burst into uncontrollable laughter that couldn't be stopped. Soon enough, with their eyes streaming with mirth, the boys move to the table and sat down to get pleasure from having a lighthearted meal together, although the sadness still lingered in the air they ignored it and finished the day together and contentedly.

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

The next day James found himself sitting on the lawn that was facing the west as he and Lily dug their way through the large pile of homework that they attempted to finish. He had just told Lily a hilarious anecdote about a time when Sirius had accidentally sliced off a substantial amount of his hair when he stayed at the Potter's house during the summer months.

The pair laughed riotously until their sides hurt and their respective friends had located them and when James and Lily had pulled themselves together everyone rested on the cold refreshing grass.

James examine Lily cheerfully and noticed that her cheeks were flushed a bright pink from the cold and probably also from laughing so hard. When Lily looked in his direction and they both automatically let their eyes fall on Sirius and that unfortunately got them laughing once more.

It took a while before James and Lily could again control their amusement, but after they did, the group talked for a few hours until the sun slowly lowered out of sight and the wind picked up and they were forced to vacate the happy place and continue in the common room. Through the rest of the evening, James and Lily stayed by each other until they had been left alone as a large clock in the distance chimed 12 o'clock.

"Hey, Lily?" said James quietly. He wanted to ask Lily something, but his Gryffindor courage had somehow left him when the last of his friends had trudged tiredly up to their dormitory. James's heart thumped loudly in his chest and he could feel himself starting to sweat. How could he do this? But he had to before someone else did! A horrible thought had just occurred to James, was he already too late and…

But his chaotic thoughts were interrupted when Lily spoke up.

"Did you want something James?"

"Ye… no… I… um" he cleared his throat loudly. "I… I forgot what I was going to say. Darn, well maybe I'll think of it tomorrow." said James with a shrug.

Lily looked a little suspicious but thankfully let it go and she then walked to the bottom of the girl's spiral staircase and made her way up, but on the third step she paused and turned around to face James again.

James was puzzled as to what Lily wanted to say, for a few seconds she just stood on the bottom step as she opened and closed her mouth several times. After a minute of indecision, she said, "Good night James," and then left him alone as the coal in the fireplace slowly burned out and he was silhouetted only by a sliver of light from the moon.

LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE

Lily rubbed her eyes as she climbed the stairs that would take her to the wonderful bed that awaited her, but as she thought of James standing in the common room in solitude, she thumped her forehead with her closed fist and berated herself for acting completely barmy in front of him.

What she had wanted to say was that she had had a fabulous day hanging out with him and that she had quite gotten over her irritation toward him and that she hoped that they could again have a fun and relaxing day together, but she had backed out at the last instant and instead gawked shamelessly at him and then finally tore herself from him and marched back upstairs.

But it was over and done with and she could do nothing more tonight except go to bed. When she reached the dormitory she quickly dressed into her night clothes and drifted slowly to sleep as her mind again replayed the pleasant day spent with.

As she entered sleep a large smile spread across her face as she dreamed, and a single word escaped her lips, heard by none and was lost to the world and the girl that uttered it.

"James."


	11. Hogsmeade

* * *

Chapter 11: Hogsmeade

October 1976

With the arrival of Halloween a Hogsmeade trip was scheduled for the day and all of Hogwarts was excited. It was the topic of many of conversations and Lily's friends planned and plotted what they would be doing that day. It was rumoured that Dumbledore had procured the most popular band of the day: The Exploding Cauldrons. Above such triviality, Lily was thinking how many things had changed since coming to really know James and his friends. It was shocking for Lily to be around the boys and not feel annoyed by them, and though it was odd to admit, they actually could act like human beings most of the time.

As she was getting dressed and putting on a warm jumper, she thought over the developing relationship between Sirius and Tory. It was well known that they would flirt whenever the two groups would get together, which was quickly becoming a daily occurrence. Many students had started hailing them as "the couple" but how long they were to stay as that Lily didn't know, and she wasn't sure that their relationship was even 'official' yet.

Nicole was acting differently around Remus, but it was so subtle that it took a few weeks for Lily to notice the change. Nicole had always been one to stay as herself, no matter whether she had a boyfriend or not, but it was disconcerting to see how she easily would spend so much time in the company of Remus instead of her own friends. Lily thought that it was a good match, but at the first opportunity alone with the girl she would ambush her and demand answers for herself. It was as they were walking to breakfast together that she finally found her moment. Tory was supposed to be eating with Sirius and Kathleen hastening to the library to tidy up an essay for Transfiguration that she wanted to go over before she turned it in to Professor McGonagall later that day.

"So, Nicole, you and Remus are getting pretty friendly as of late." Lily said as Nicole flushed red.

"I… I don't know what you mean, you very well know that I've been on friendly terms with Remus for years, and you also know that all we're doing is studying in the library." she said defensively as her cheeks slowly returned to their usual colour.

"Oh I know, but I've just noticed how much time you're spending with him and I think it is wonderful." Lily whispered as a group of first years noisily made their way to the Great Hall laughing and pushing each other as they strode passed the two fellow Gryffindors.

"We're not going out." Nicole said flatly.

"But why not? We both know that Remus is so sweet and I know you two are definitely good for each other." Lily insisted.

"Because we aren't a couple, just very good friends." she looked sternly at Lily. "I know all of Remus's good qualities, but I can't be in a relationship right now. It wouldn't be fair to him or me if we got involved. It's very important to me to do well on my studies if I want to get a good position at St. Mungo's as a councillor and you know it's true."

Lily didn't like the logic of that statement but she quickly pushed the thought away and said adamantly, "I know that you want to do well, but it doesn't mean that you have to give up a chance with him, because I know that he also wants to do well on his N.E.W.T's and he wouldn't scorn you for wanting to work. Many people have juggled personal and educational lives at one time and still managed things enough to have their lives going the way they planned them. You do realise that, don't you?"

"Yes, but," Nicole started to say but Lily talked over the top of her rebuttal.

"No buts Nicole, either you'll have him or you won't. There's no in-betweens."

Before Nicole could come up with a reply they had arrived in front of the large oak doors that were spread open and the smell of food overtook their senses, pausing their conversation. Quickly, Lily walked over to where Tory was sitting in Sirius's lap and rolled her eyes at the sight. She walked over and sat next to Sirius, very aware of the fact that Nicole didn't follow her but instead had gone over and sat next to the fifth year prefects. Ignoring that, Lily instead pulled a flask of Pumpkin juice and poured herself a glass and as she did so she looked up and met the eyes of James Potter. When she caught him staring at her he gave her a quirky grin as he greeted her.

"Good morning Lily." he said as he started to stand up.

"Morning,"

"I'll see you later. I have to deliver an owl to my parents. See you in Transfiguration."

Lily had just taken a bite of her toast so she just nodded and then waved as James stood up and walked out of sight. She looked over at Nicole and saw to her dismay that her friend seemed to be laughing at some joke and was obviously avoiding her. Lily turned to her left and watched as Tory fed Sirius grapes, but it wasn't Tory he was studying.

"What is it?"

Sirius cleared his throat. "I don't what it is about you, but that boy's got it bad and he can't help himself when he acts like he does. You gonna let him take you to Hogsmeade?"

Lily had just taken a sip of juice that resulted in choking and sputtering as she asked, "W…what? Are you serious?"

"Of course, I'm Sir…"

"So help me, Sirius Black. If you tell me that joke _one_ more time, I will hex you as never before, because I _know_ you know exactly what I really meant." said Lily, unsmiling.

Sirius just rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, yeah I know what you mean." He took a breath. Tory slid of Sirius's lap and sat on his other side watching the conversation with interest.

"But honestly, are you going to let James ask you out, because I know he's been looking forward to this chance and I know it would really mean something fierce to him if you'd say yes. I'm not saying you have to, but I just want you to know that he really fancies you and," he lowered his voice so much so that Lily had to lean forward to hear him add, "and I think that he's fancied you longer than you and I'll ever realize. But that's my opinion, so take it as you will."

For once, Lily actually thought that Sirius was being completely and genuinely serious.

­-­xx-x-x-xx-x-x-xx-

As the afternoon arrived, the girls called it a day of no homework and that they _had_ to do something fun together like they had in previous years. The girls were sitting together in a heap in the middle of their dormitory floor. They had pulled off their duvets, had cocooned themselves in them, and then had retrieved their pillows and either sat on or lay atop them.

Although Nicole and Lily acted stiffly toward each other they had no qualms with Kathleen or Tory, so the afternoon was spent laughing and talking about – what else? – boys and their uses or subsequent drawbacks.

"So Kathleen, have you gotten up the nerve ask Jonathan Kirk if he would like to accompany you to Hogwarts yet? I know that you aren't the only one in this castle that has eyes for him," Tory said.

Lily had a feeling that it must be true since Tory was always the one to have the most reliable information on such things as budding relationships, but Kathleen only stared down at her fingernails and didn't respond.

Tory became impatient and sat up and said, "Come on Kathleen; give us something good to chat about! We're waiting here!"

She mumbled a unintelligibly sentence.

"What?" the three said together excitedly.

Kathleen took in a huge breath, sighed, and then said, "He asked me already, and said yes." Everyone froze at these words, but then Lily snapped back and she squealed in delight.

"That's magnificent Kathleen! Why ever did you not tell us sooner?"

Before Kathleen could speak she was tackled as her three friends collided as they all when to give the girl a congratulatory hug. The result was a large pile of arms and legs, at which Kathleen seemed to be having trouble breathing, so the girls quickly scurried off and she was left to massage her bruised throat. After a few minutes of everyone catching their breath and settling back into their spots they sat staring at Kathleen until she admitted quite reluctantly, as though it was taking herculean effort to get the words out.

"Earlier today he cornered me after Herbology and then actually asked me to go with him and well, I of course said yes!" the girl crowed, overcome at the prospect of going anywhere with her crush.

Lily was happy that the boy finally noticed Kathleen and did something about it. As Kathleen continued however; colour drained from her face and she suddenly looked guiltily up at her friends and whispered, "But then I didn't want to tell you guys since it's been a tradition to go together on the first Hogsmeade trip of the year."

Lily sat up in shock, Kathleen's growing attachment to Jonathan had become quite transparent to her closest friends and it was astonishing that their friend would think of others when one of her biggest dreams had just come true.

"Now I can't speak for all of us, but I think that it's about time Jonathan dredged up some brains and finally noticed what a gem you are. I would add that you shouldn't care what we do because this is something you've been waiting for for some time now, besides, who knows what will happen between the two of you if you go? There's nothing like the present, I say."

The others quickly agreed with Lily's sentiments and Kathleen beamed brightly and let out a relieved sigh.

"Thanks guys, it means a lot to me that you don't mine if I break tradition to go with someone else this time."

Nicole spoke up when they had fallen silent.

"Umm, I have to confess that I won't be going with you either actually," she said, trying not to make eye contact with her friends; and Lily noticed that she seemed to be especially hesitant to meet her eye.

* * *

The Marauders were tightly wrapped in their cloaks as they made their way through the grounds of Hogwarts and to the lakeside. They had wanted to go to the lake and escape the castle since every Gryffindor seemed to be in the common room because of the outside being so cold, but the four friends had come to except the cooler temperature thanks to their monthly escapades for the last year.

When the group got comfortable on the bank they sat down and started planning how they would be spending the upcoming Hogsmeade visit. Naturally, Sirius was the first to admit that he and Tory had been planning on going to Hogsmeade together, but what was shocking of the whole arrangement was that Peter would be walking with them until they actually reached the village (If I can live that long, seeing as they will be probably be glued together at the lips," he had said). Although Peter didn't say what he was going to be doing, they quickly dropped the subject when it was clear that Peter wouldn't be telling any of his mysterious plans he had there.

James _was_ surprised when Remus admitted that he had asked Nicole to go with him and she had said yes. James felt giddy at the thought of asking if Lily she would like to come with him to Hogsmeade. His friends, especially Sirius, started wolf whistling and nudging him in the ribs as though they could read his thoughts, but he ignored them and concentrated on how she might act when it come to. He knew that she probably didn't want to go as a "couple", so he would be sure to make that clear when he asked her. He wasn't sure what would happen after he did, but he was really hopping that she would say yes. Somehow though, he didn't think that she would say no, because it seemed to him that she was coming to enjoy his company after all.

-­xx-x-x-xx-x-x-xx-

James fidgeted nervously with his tie and his fingers fumbled with it as he tried loosening it. His last class of the day (Defence against the Dark Arts) had just ended and he knew that the time had come and it was now or never.

Distantly he heard Sirius teasing Peter about something he had done earlier that day, but he quickly shut them from his thoughts and tried to concentrate on what he would say when he could get to Lily by herself.

It seemed only seconds had passed when he arrived before the Fat Lady. Clearing his throat, Remus gave the password (Bat wings) and they clambered in. The common room had many students, but the quartet seemed to be the first to get to the common room from their own age group. The boys all started for their dormitory at once, but James begged off and sat at a nearby table that faced the portrait hole so that he would know when Lily entered the room.

James dropped his bag at his feet and took in a breath to compose himself. It didn't work but he tried to settle his stomach anyway. To occupy his mind he thought over his last Quidditch practice that he had held.

Sirius, as one of the beaters, had been very lively and that had kept the team in high spirits when the weather turned bitter. Having his best friend on the team was both good and bad sometimes, but last night it was a good thing. Sirius was popular with the general populous of the school, excluding the Slytherins of course, and last night it had come as a blessing when the players started to moan.

James just hoped that his team would get used to the cold, because the first match of the season would be in a few weeks and it was Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. Thinking back, James made a mental note to work them harder if they had started to complain about the cold, so that if he worked them hard enough they would either be too tired to complain or too hot to be complaining about the cold air. But before he could think anymore on the subject the Fat Lady's portrait swung opened to reveal Lily and her friends. After walking into the common room the girls made their way upstairs.

James jumped to his feet and dashed to the girls. Lily jumped when he flew to her side but she didn't say anything other than, "Good afternoon James."

He almost had forgotten what he had wanted to ask her until her friends started giggling and the room temperature seemed to be getting uncomfortably warm. Thankfully Lily shushed her friends and told them to go up without her and they did go up but Nicole still shot a smug knowing look in his direction. Self-consciously he cleared his throat and motioned her to follow as he walked to a more remote part of the common room.

She trailed behind looking grim and that worried him more than anything she could have done. Did she know what he was doing and didn't want to hurt his feelings by turning him down after getting to know him better? Did that mean she had already been asked and was going to go with someone else? Again he cleared his throat, and out of habit, ran his hand through his hair making it stand on end. He looked at her face and saw to his relief that she had started to crack a smile.

Bolstered by this show of warmth he finally spoke, "So, how's your day been going?" he cringed when his voice broke on his last word. She ignored this. "Interesting." was all she said. Reprimanding himself for making idle chitchat, he went straight to the point.

"Lily," he paused for the smallest moment, "Would you like to visit Hogsmeade together? Don't feel pressured over it; it can be just as friends since I know that you're not looking for a boyfriend or anything."

She didn't respond right away, but when she did her answer made his breath caught and he thought he might fall in a dead faint.

"Yes James, I would love to go with you as friends." After his brain had started functioning again he grinned and he was sure that he probably looked a bit mad grinning widely enough that his cheeks hurt.

"Great!" he shouted excitedly. Thankfully no one in the room seemed to care enough to look over at them.

"Okay, I guess I'll go. Bye! I'll see you later Lily!" he said and then he quickly gave her a peck on the cheek and hurried off to tell his friends the fantastic news.

* * *

Lily stood there motionless in shock. He had kissed her on the cheek! _He had kissed her!_ Although it had been short it had been nice. She put her hand to her cheek, and though it had not been a novelty for she had had boyfriends before now, but the gesture had been so sweet that she had never felt so touched before. He had kissed her like it was second nature or something of the sort. She was shaken from her thoughts as she was bowled over by two third year girls that had ran straight into her, and how they didn't see her she would never know, but after several minutes of 'sorrys' and many 'I'm fines', Lily finally made it up to her room. She must have still looked shocked because as soon as she had made it through the door Nicole looked up at her speculatively.

"What happened? Are you okay Lily?" she asked.

"Um, I… I'm not quite sure," Lily said haltingly. "James asked me to Hogsmeade and I assume that he knows that most of my friends are going with someone else, so I said yes and he told me it would be just as friends. And then he … kissed my cheek."

It might have been an explosion because all at once her friends scurried to her side and started talking over the top of each other and Lily could only make out snatches of what they seemed to be saying.

"…kissed you!"

"…here I thought it wouldn't…"

"…Wow, that was…"

After several minutes of chaos, exclamation and hugs Lily was able to extract herself from the din and walk to her bed. From her seat she said over her friends' enthusiastic chatter, "It was only on my cheek!" But the girls didn't seem to hear her or if they did, they just ignored it.

"I knew he would do it one of these days," Nicole said confidently.

"Yeah," Kathleen agreed wholeheartedly. "It's been coming along for ages."

The girls seemed to be in a frenzy and Lily guessed that they would stay occupied long enough for her to get away. She watched for several minutes until she knew they weren't paying close attention to her and then she slid off her bed and left the room quietly.

Wanting to think in peace, but not having a clear notion of where, Lily decided that a nice chat with Hagrid would be enough. Lily realized that she hadn't yet visited him this term and thought that now would be a good time to resolve the matter. She walked through the common room like a shadow and passed along the corridors thinking hard. If James really liked her and even kissed her however briefly on the cheek, could that possibly mean that he might want something more than just a Hogsmeade visit between friends at a later time?

No, she said to herself. She had just remembered that it was just a few days ago that she had had a fabulous time with him and they hadn't done anything but joke around and talk about things that she would have with her girl friends. After considering the thought, she made her way to Hagrid's hut.

It had been a while since she posted a letter to her parents, and so she made a mental note to remember to write one as soon as she got back from Hagrid's. Satisfied, she walked in earnest to one of her dearest friends.

Lily arrived in front of Hagrid's house but he didn't seem to be inside when she knocked so she made her way back behind his hut and found him tending to his garden that was filled with very large pumpkins.

"Hello Hagrid," she greeted warmly.

"Hello Lily," said Hagrid turning to face her with a smile. "You finally remembered where I live, did ya?"

"Yes, sorry, I've been busy."

"I've noticed," Hagrid's eyes crinkled at the corners and said, "Yeah, I've seen you and James Potter out on the grounds together a lot o' times lately."

Lily fought down a blush that tried to paint brightly on her cheeks, but thankfully she felt the hotness drain from her face slowly.

"So, are you working on the pumpkins for the feast?" she asked, wanting to change the subject more then anything else.

"Yeah," Hagrid said. He seemed to guess what she was doing, but he just said, "They're comin' along great. Going to get real big, ya' see?"

"Yes, it'll be great, come Halloween."

"Well, no use staying out here in the cold, how 'bout a cuppa?"

"Oh yes!" Lily said. She had just realised how cool it had gotten, even with her heavy cloak.

"So, are you going with your friends to Hogsmeade?" he asked as he poured her a cup of hot tea. It was an innocent enough question, but her body betrayed her as her cheeks flared an intense crimson. Why oh why did she have to blush so much? It _had_ to be an illness. Hagrid noticed and looked at her questioningly.

"Actually no, they're all going with other people, so umm, James asked me to go with him just as friends instead of going alone. By myself."

She stressed the words just as friends, but Hagrid ignored it and said, "Friends huh? And I noticed you called him James – not Potter or anything insultin'. What's that mean?"

Lily was becoming increasingly embarrassed at the line of questions. But she wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond to them.

"Well we're no longer enemies, if that's what you're asking, but I wouldn't be so bold as to say that we're more than friends because we're not! No," she said with a shake of her head. "No we're not. We are just really good friends now."

Hagrid didn't speak but Lily didn't like the look on his face and the minutes passed agonizingly slow. Desperate to leave, she downed her tea in few hasty gulps and said after a moment of silence, "Thanks for the tea Hagrid, but I had better go, I want to send a letter to my parents before dinner, so I'll see you later."

He nodded, still wearing the odd expression and opened his cabin door for her and watched as she walked back up to the castle alone. Although it was only a little after four, the grounds were empty as the wind blew the cold hard air through the empty lawn.

-xx-x-x-xx-x-x-xx-

Pulling in a deep calming breathe Lily mustered up enough courage to open the door to her dormitory and poke her head in and see if her friends were in there. Mercifully there only seemed to be Kathleen in the room sitting on her bed reading a very large tome.

"Where are the others?" Lily asked her.

Kathleen looked up from her book and paused a minute before responding.

"Tory went off with Sirius somewhere and Nicole headed to visit the library about fifteen minutes ago. Where did you go?" she asked suspiciously. What she was being accused of Lily didn't know, but she responded calmly and dignified. She straightened up to her full height and said, "At Hagrid's. I'm going to write to my parents. I'll see you at dinner."

With that Lily flounced out of the door (after getting the necessary items), strode to the portrait hole, and made the long trek to the Owlery. She didn't want to sit on owl droppings as she wrote her letter, so she situated herself on the stairs leading to the top of the Owlery and composed her letter to her parents.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_Sorry for not getting to you sooner. It's been very busy this last month, so it hasn't occurred to me to write until now. Has Petunia gotten settled in her new home yet? I haven't received any news from her, so you'll have to report to me. Do you remember the boy that we met in Diagon Alley before the school year? Well James Potter really has changed this summer for the better and, believe it or not, I've actually befriended him._

_The Hogsmeade trip is on Halloween again this year, but all of my friends are all pairing off and Tory is now dating Sirius Black, another boy you met this summer too. Just today James asked me to go with him to Hogsmeade as friends, which we are JUST friends! Dad please don't let Mum get any ideas and stop her from planning my wedding, because I won't be marrying James and besides, I'm not even dating him._

Lily paused; she didn't know what else to say. Should she confide that she has been spending a lot of time in James's company? She had even started wondering if she was starting to feel something toward him that wasn't wholly platonic. Everything was happening so fast and she felt so confused. She knew that he felt some affection toward her, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to get into a relationship, but then words came to her. Her words that she had said to Nicole just this morning.

"_No buts Nicole, either you'll have him or you won't. There are no in-betweens."_

Lily rolled her eyes at the irony of the whole thing. But did she think that she might want to be in a relationship with him? The whole thing was getting ridiculous. After thinking for a few more minutes she decided against telling her parents anymore than she already had and just finished up her letter instead.

_I don't have much else to say right now, but I hope this letter finds you all right and I hope you can get back to me soon. I love and miss you both._

_Lots of love,_

_Lily_

She stood up and went into the Owlery and picked a school owl at random and watched as it flew off into the far distance. Her stomach grumbled at its neglect and she realised that it was indeed almost dinner time. With one last look out at the darkening sky she turned to the door to join the other Gryffindors in the Great Hall.

* * *

James shot up in bed, at first thought it had been Sirius doing something to him, but looking around him he saw nothing but his friends sleeping in their four posters. He then remembered what today was; Halloween, which meant the Hogsmeade trip was also today. He looked at his watch and groaned. It was just about four-thirty in the morning. Great. It was too early to for anyone to be awake, but now that he was awake James couldn't settle his excitement or nerves enough to sleep.

Wishing that he could fall asleep eventually he got up and reached for his glasses, a pair of slippers, his dressing gown and his Invisibility Cloak. He thought that if he got something hot to drink he might be able to get back to bed for a few more hours before everyone else started to wake up. Fixing everything to rights, he quickly made his way through the castle in silence.

Rubbing his eyes wearily and covering a yawn he made it to the picture of a bowl of fruit. He reached and tickled the pear and watched as it giggled and turned into a doorknob. Letting himself in, he was immediately bombarded by tiny squeaking house-elves on every side. Covering another yawn he asked for a cup of tea and some muffins and whatever else they might have lying around.

In minutes they had pulled all the stops and he was presented with a ridiculous amount of food and his requested cup of tea. He ate a couple tarts and a muffin, but he didn't really taste them, he was only thinking of what the day might end up being like. Although he'd been dreaming of this day for a long time it still didn't seem real to him. He felt like he was in an alternative world, because where else would Lily actually like him enough to agreed to go with him to Hogsmeade? Just them. Alone together. It just didn't make sense!

Around five he started to feel tired again, so he thanked the elves and plodded his way along the familiar path to the Fat Lady's portrait. Sluggishly he trudged up the stairs and padded his way to his bed. With a sigh he fell into bed, slippers and all, falling asleep in seconds.

-xx-x-x-xx-x-x-xx-

"Okay James act cool. You don't want to loose your head over a little thing like a Hogsmeade visit, do you?" he asked his reflection in the lavatory mirror before him. His reflection didn't answer. He again picked up his comb and tugged it through his hair half-heartedly and after a few minutes he gave it up as a bad job and returned to his room. Checking to make sure to grab gloves, his cloak and a scarf, James left his dormitory and walked down into the common room. Lily was waiting at the bottom of the landing that lead up to the boys' dormitory, and when she saw him she smiled widely.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yes. Have you been waiting long?"

"No, just about five minutes is all."

"I think we should get going, yeah?" James asked tightly. He was anxious to leave the castle grounds and the day could only get better from there in his opinion.

"Yes, let's." said Lily.

She then hooked her elbow around his as they walked down through the castle together. When she touched him, his brain froze and his heart beat a rapid tempo, but after a second he got feeling and thought back into his brain and they started their descent.

-xx-x-x-xx-x-x-xx-

"Butterbeer?" James asked. He and Lily had just sat down at a table in the back of the Three Broomsticks and he was going to get a couple of drinks after winning a disagreement about who would be paying.

"Yes please," Lily relented.

"Right 'o, be back in a tick."

James sidled around the many tables filled with rowdy Hogwarts students and wizard folk chattering loudly from every direction. When he reached the bar he came face to face with Madame Rosmerta, the very pretty owner of the Three Broomsticks, and asked for two tankards of Butterbeers.

"Just two James? What are Remus and Peter doing that could possibly prevent them from sitting with you and Sirius?" she asked looking around the bar in search of Sirius.

"Sirius?" James asked. "I'm not here with Sirius, where did you get that idea?"

Madame Rosmerta leaned forward and James quickly looked up and tried to concentrate on her words carefully, "Well it's just that you're always together with Sirius when you come here on a Hogsmeade visit and it's quite unusual of you two to be separated, so whom are you with then?"

"He's off with his girlfriend and my other friends ditched me so I'm here with Lily Evans. She got deserted by her friends too." James said with a wide smile.

Rosmerta spotted Lily sitting in the back and then nodded. "Right. I'll bring your drinks to you in a moment and that will be six sickles apiece."

James paid the barmaid and then walked back to his seat next to Lily, who he noticed was gripping her wand tightly in her lap as she waited for him to return. He frowned, for some reason Lily was shooting an annoyed glance at the bar.

"Is there something wrong Lily?" he asked curiously.

"What?"

James noted at once that her face had cleared of all emotion and turned into innocent bewilderment. "Why were you looking so irked just a minute ago?" he said as he indicated with his head to the front bar.

"I was?" she asked shocked. "No I wasn't!"

James heard the honesty in her voice and stared at her, just confused as she was. "What do you mean you don't know? How could you not know that?"

"No. I was just watching you order drinks. Why would I…" but she was interrupted as Madame Rosmerta appeared in front of their table and served their drinks. James looked up and grinned mischievously at the barmaid, "Thank you ever so much."

Madame Rosmerta looked over at him and winked. "Have fun today, and that goes for you as well Lily." Rosmerta faced Lily and blinked in surprise. Again Lily had something less than a pleasant look on her face and this time she was staring straight at Madame Rosmerta, seeing this Madame Rosmerta quickly scurried away and went back behind the bar to serve her customers and staying far away from Lily.

James chuckled. He couldn't help it. Lily was (dare he even think it) acting, oddly enough, jealous. Lily looked at him questioningly but he just shook his head disbelievingly. They talked about charms and transfiguration technique, the opening Quidditch match and James told her about some different manoeuvres he wanted his team to try. For her part, Lily looked genuinely curious at his explaining of the different Quidditch moves, but after a quarter of an hour they went into more neutral subjects.

When silence descended on the table James ruffled his hair and asked, "Would you like to leave?"

Lily took the last drag from her Butterbeer and wiped her mouth on her napkin and stood up pulling on her cloak and gloves while James quickly finished his. Together they edged around the other tables and out the doors.

The wind had settled down to a light breeze so that Lily and James casually walked down Hogsmeade village and window browsed until Lily said that she was getting low on ink and wanted to go into Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop to pick up a couple bottles, loyally James followed and watched as she selected her things and went to the till to pay for them things.

"Honeydukes next?" he asked grinning. It was amazing that he had finally got a chance to go the Hogsmeade with Lily.

"I thought you would never ask!" she again took the initiative and all but dragged James as she made a beeline for the sweetshop. He hurried and they entered the crowded shop and Lily expertly manoeuvred around all of the other students picking an assortment of sweets, and mostly just ones that consisted of chocolate. James trailed behind and grabbed a couple of bars of Honeydukes famous chocolate bars and a package of Sugar Quills for himself. After finding all of their favourites sweets they marched up to the till and paid for their purchases and went back out into the surprisingly mild, late October weather.

It was still early afternoon so they decided to wander down the little lanes of Hogsmeade that they had never explored before. After strolling along for a few minutes in silence they happened upon a small children's play park that was deserted. When Lily saw this she squealed in delight and ran to the swings and promptly sat down and called to James, "James! Come and join me!"

It wasn't often that James could say that Lily smiled at him in earnest and completely of her own volition, without the aid of anyone or anything else around them. Until recently, that is. Grinning he jogged over to the swings and sat down and started pumping his legs and matched Lily's pace on the swing. He glanced over at her, saw her staring, and then pulled a funny face and that made her start laughing as she swung higher and higher. He didn't think that he'd ever heard anything so beautiful before in his life.

They didn't say anything for a long time, just enjoying the calm and quiet. James couldn't help stealing a glance at Lily when he thought she wasn't looking. He flushed when she caught him at it, he decided a distract was needed.

"So, is this something you like to do during the summer Hols?" James asked.

"I certainly wish I could have. But it wasn't really feasible with my older sister's wedding. We had to prepare for that and get all the things that go along with a wedding done, so it was a busy summer for me. Too busy really."

"Are you close to your sister?" James was staring at Lily and he was surprised at Lily's reaction to what he thought would be an innocent question.

"Who? Petunia? Are you kidding me?" Lily said as her brow wrinkled in irritation. "No. Petunia and I haven't had a civil conversation since we went to Diagon Alley just over five years ago. I was young then and I was so excited to finally understand how I could do such extraordinary things after years of confusion and I was sure that my sister would think it lovely too. I never expected Petunia's reaction. Growing up we were like any two sisters: fighting, laughing and sharing everything and anything, and we always knew we loved each other and I would sure she would except _me_ for me,"

Lily paused and James was surprised that she would confide such a personal experience with him, but he didn't want to ruin the moment so he kept quiet.

"I was wrong, so very wrong. After we arrived home I went and put my things away except my wand, which I just wanted to show Petunia. Which is when we had a huge row and had our initial falling-out. All I had ever wanted from her was her approval, but of course she hadn't taken it well, instead of the approval I had imaged she recoiled from me as though I was some venomous snake and shrieked, 'Get away from me you… you… freak of nature!' "

James was appalled at the attitude of this so-called sister of Lily's. He was surprised at her ability to remember everything so clearly and without the least bit of hesitation on her part. He wondered if she had ever told anyone this story before. He wondered if her parents even knew.

* * *

Lily jarred up trying to think of a way to go on from here. By this point they had both stopped swinging and just stayed unmoving in their seats. Lily drew in a huge breath and stiffly stood up and trekked woodenly over to a patch of grass and sat there instead, but that didn't stop James from going to sit next to her and lightly wrapped his arm around her slender shoulders.

"You think of this a lot, don't you? And I bet you haven't gotten past it by the looks of things." The last part, Lily realised, was a statement. She sighed and nodded mutely. "I didn't always feel so angry toward Petunia, but after so many years you begin to realise that angry words are better than tears being shed over the whole thing. When she first reacted that way I was shocked and hurt, but primarily hurt, so instead of trying anything subtle I acted impulsively and bristled, attacking right back.

" 'You're just jealous!' I remember screaming, and I easily saw that I had hit a nerve because Petunia's eyes widened as her alarm grew. But denial is Petunia's specialty and quickly tried to dissuade me from this notion.

" 'I do not! Why would I want to be some freak that attends a freak school with others that are… are… so unnatural as you?' Never in my short life had Petunia ever said anything so harsh or spiteful to me before, and especially to my face, but unfortunately she wasn't finished. 'That's right sis, mum and dad may be happy over this oddity but that doesn't take the freakishness out of a FREAK like you!'

"My retort died on my lips and I could feel that I was about to lose my composure, so with my wand clutched in my fist I flew to my bedroom and I didn't come out for the rest of the day. To this day I still don't know what Petunia said to my parents, but I do know that they never came to check on me and it was from that moment on that I never trusted anyone as much as I had trusted Petunia. Well, until today that is."

It wasn't until she had finished her tale did Lily realise that she had started crying, but as her tears fell James was there to quickly wipe them away and he pulled her tightly to his side to comfort the hurt girl. With great apprehension Lily cautiously stole a glance at James to see his reaction to the whole affair. He wasn't talking or speaking and that worried her, but that didn't last too long.

"That's the way she talks to you now?" the irate boy shouted in the total quiet around them.

"James! Not so loud!" she admonished, but he didn't seem to have heard her.

"Why that… well I don't think there is a word enough worthy for her…"

Lily gave a shaky laugh and said, "Would 'inconsiderate, monstrous and intolerable old cow' do you enough justice?"

James shook his head determinedly, but Lily still saw the smirk that twitched around the corners of his mouth.

The two talked and James cracked a few jokes to lighten the mood and they stayed in the park until the cold Scottish wind picked up fast and they left for the castle; both found themselves getting more excited for the upcoming feast as they walked closer and closer to the castle.

-­xx-x-x-xx-x-x-xx-

Lily laughed as she and James entered the brightly lit common room where students just coming from Hogsmeade were warming up at the fireplace and the younger students were chatting impatiently about the upcoming Halloween feast. Still chuckling over James's last witty remark Lily started to pull off her cloak, but before she could do more than extract one arm when it was quickly shed with the help of James. Lily turned to him and smiled brightly as she took her cloak from him.

"Thank you kind Sir," she said playfully.

"My pleasure dear Lady," he quipped as he bowed low to the ground.

Lily laughed again; the girl couldn't remember the last time she'd had as much fun as she had in this one afternoon in a long while. Quickly dashing up the waiting stairway Lily called to James that she would see him later at the feast and then pulled open the door to her dormitory.

The redheaded girl was surprised to find the room devoid of anyone since it was usually tradition that the girls would talk and laugh about the trip spent in Hogsmeade before they walked down to the feast together; but instead the room only had silence thick as dense fog.

Feeling a little hurt Lily took a shower to calm and soothe her and after several minutes of peaceful contemplation of the day Lily got out and wrapped her hair in a towel and piled it high on her head. She brushed and dried her hair until it shined and then picked out a clean uniform and dressed in the hush.

Lilt consulted her clock and saw that she still had an hour before the feast began and so she decided that she would sketch out whatever her mind conjured up. Lily took up her sketch pad and pencils that lay on her side table and let her fingers do the rest. The mindless drawing felt good it was nice to do so effortlessly and it was only when she was halfway finished with her picture did Lily realise that she had started one with James sitting on his swing smiling mischievously.

This new development surprised her. It wasn't that her newfound friendship was shocking, it was only how close they had gotten after so short a time and it was astounding how she had already memorized his face decently enough to draw him reasonably well.

Her pencil paused over the paper as she stopped to examine her work more closely. The raven hair was in its usual disarray and Lily giggled embarrassedly as she noticed how much care had gone into the workings of his face and she could feel her cheeks flame with heat and she was thankful that she was alone and no one was there to question her blushing so violently over her sketch of James Potter grinning his oh so charming smile.

-­xx-x-x-xx-x-x-xx-

When Lily entered the Great Hall she quickly scanned the Gryffindor table and spotted Kathleen sitting next to Jonathan Kirk and his friends as they sat chatting before the start of the Halloween Feast. Then Lily's eyes fell upon the rest of her friends sitting with Remus, James, Sirius and Peter. Finding them she quickly made her way down to them and sat in her customary seat in between Nicole and Tory.

"Hey Lily, where've you been? Everyone's been waiting for you." he said as he smiled warmly at her.

"I've just been in the dormitory milling around until the feast started. What have you guys been doing?" Lily asked.

"Well, Sirius and I met up with those two." Tory said motioning to Nicole and Remus. "In the late in the afternoon in Hogsmeade and we decided to head to the castle together. It was then that we came across Peter as we were walking up the lane. It was about an hour ago that we bumped into James outside and we've been talking together on the grounds until about twenty minutes ago. We all decided to wait for you here since we knew you would be coming at any time."

"Well, That explains a lot. I was wondering if you girls had abandoned me for the worst kind of boys." Lily teased as she glanced at Sirius.

"Hey Lily you wound me! Look at the wonderful example I am to James here, he wouldn't be half the troublemaker he is if it wasn't for me! Everyone loves a rebel!" Sirius said with a hand to his heart and a sad puppy dog expression on his face.

Lily couldn't help but laugh at him and the others quickly joined in.

"I don't think we'll be seeing Kathleen anytime soon," said Nicole after everyone had stopped to catch their breath. "Hey, maybe by now she'll only go by Kathy." The girls turned to the end of the table and saw Kathleen giggle at something Jonathan had just said.

"I can't wait to see her tonight. I'm not letting her go without taking the Mickey out of her a bit when we get back to our room," said Tory with a feral grin on her face; Sirius chuckled appreciatively.

Lily rolled her eyes at the immaturity that Tory and Sirius seemed to have in spades. It was true that she loved them for it, but sometimes it could be too much.

The group talked about their respective dates (or non-date, Lily insisted) and what they did. Lily didn't mention the little park that she and James found nor did she say what had transpired there. Thankfully, James didn't bring it up either.

* * *

So, what did you think? Do you like the latest chapter? I don't like the ending very much, because it's a hanging sentence it's bugging me, but I can't think of any other way to end it! The end was supposed to be in James's PoV, but he couldn't think a proper paragraph for me there at the end, so it's just going to have to do!

Please review? Thanks for reading!

~bkwrmgrl87

P.S.

Check out my profile every once in a while to find out what I've got coming next!


	12. The Ending Summary

Lily and James are inseparable after the trip in Hogsmeade and when Christmas vacation comes around James invites Lily his home for the annual Potter Christmas party. It is revealed that James' home is more of a mansion and Lily gets a guided tour of the house. Peter at this time is starting to feel left out of the loop.

The Sixth years Gryffindors take their Apparition test and later that day James receives the news that his Father has Vanishing Sickness and is terminally ill. He later learns that when his mother had tried to nurse her husband back to health she also contracted the incurable disease.

chapter 16 was to be in Peter's point of view and is offered a place with Voldemort from Severus Snape and Peter (obviously) agrees to join the ranks.

Peter shows subtle signs of unexplained nervousness but none bring it up. As they are on the Hogwarts Express for the holidays James tells Lily he loves her. Lily is surprised by the suddenness of the admission and leaves the station quickly. She had just been happy with their friendship and had not wanted to acknowledge the deeper feelings that both she and James felt for each other.

During the holidays James goes to St Mungo's and visits his parents daily. His friends visit when they can and Lily writes him constant letters (though says nothing of what he had told her before they left 9 ¾) to keep his chin up and wishes she could visit him and admits that she misses him. January Lily turns 17 and is now of age.

In October, James asks Lily to be his girlfriend and Lily says yes. She had sorted out her feelings during the summer and decided she would go with what her heart had been trying to tell her all this time and that they actually work very well together. They share their first kiss.

Lily's parents are killed in an automobile accident (ironically enough) and James accompanies Lily to her parents funeral. Petunia is cold and distant towards Lily. Lily is of course saddened by this, after thinking that Petunia would have been nicer since they are both orphans and parentless but Petunia has not changed. For the sake of simplicity, Lily arranged to "stay" with her favourite Aunt until her next birthday and she would be an official adult.

After a Hogsmeade trip (why that is important I don't know) the boys bump into Snape and have a hexing duel and get caught by Filch and the Marauder's Map is confiscated.

Chapter 24 – Peter's PoV (Feb 1978)

Snape asks Peter if he is ready to serve the "Dark Lord" and Peter says yes but hesitates when he thinks of his friends and the years of their friendship together. He ignores the braver part of him and continues with his cowardice. Snape tells him to stick close to his friends if he wants to be useful to the Dark Lord and the keep their friendship going.

Dumbledore asks the boys and Lily to meet him and he hints to the beginning of the Order of the Phoenix and whether they would consider joining such an organization and they say yes.

After months of suffering with the very contagious Vanishing Sickness; Helen and William die from their disease. The disease is a long, painful and horrible illness to have. Random organs vanish (hence the name) and spells can only work so long and eventually all that is left of the person is a skeleton with skin. (I know gross and morbid, but with that sort of names that's what comes to mind in terms of an illness) Lily helps James after the death of his parents, knowing what he is going through, and they are each other's best supporter.

After graduating from Hogwarts the Wizarding world has quickly become a place of chaos. During a trip to Diagon Alley LV and his DEs attack while James and Lily are visiting the shops there. Lily is saved from a curse and James is hit instead and is seriously injured because of it. Lily is very distraught seeing James in such a state and she comes to a realization that she loves him even more than she first thought.

(Chapter 30) After a party that James throws, it is only Lily and James left at his house. He asks her to take a walk with him and they walk to his large pond and proposes to her and she accepts.

THE END.

Or rather would have been had I finished the story. I really am a liar, because I recall say after a chapter that I would finish writing this story until the end.... oops. :p


End file.
